Converging Paths
by GateMasterGreen
Summary: As the battle against the Grimm in the streets of Vale as well as the apprehension of Roman Torchwick both draw to a close, Team RWBY seems set to ease back into the tournament, but new players are making themselves known and their many paths converge around one point. What is really happening and why does it seem that Ruby and her team are getting pulled in?
1. Chapter 1

Yo Peeps, GateMasterGreen here with a new work, though not one of my own design. This is a collaboration effort of several authors who all write fanfiction. The main brain behind this whole thing was PeoplexLikexGrapes, so feel free to check his page out as well as any of the authors involved, most of which will be listed in the credits at some point or another. Another thing, this fic will be playing host to some OCs that we authors created for it, so they will be related by color as often as possible. If ever you have any questions about the story, feel free to PM me about it and I will relay the questions to the other authors. With this story, my ANs are superfluous and will most likely lack my usual fun cheer as it will get in the way of the story. Most ANs will probably be used to relay new information or address any issues as they arise. Updates for the fic are not yet set in stone, but we have already started up on the next chapter and are hacking away at it. With all this hoo-blah-blah said and done, please enjoy Converging Paths.

_**Disclaimer: All authors currently involved lack any rights pertaining to RWBY, which belongs to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum. **_

**Beacon Academy: Ozpin's Office**

"Our kingdom is happy to lend as many troops as it takes to make sure that this event runs as smoothly, and safely, as possible."

"And we thank you, General," the councilor said in response.

"Will that be all?" Professor Ozpin questioned blandly.

"For now," the councilor warned, "But after this festival comes to a close, we're going to have a serious discussion regarding your position at Beacon Academy. General Ironwood's reports of the last few weeks have left us somewhat… concerned. I'm sure you understand." And on that note, the council disconnected from the call, leaving the Professor and the General to talk alone.

"This is the right move, Ozpin," General Ironwood reassured, "I promise. I will keep our people safe; you have to trust me." As the General left the call, Ozpin spun his chair around to face the window with a contemplative look noticeable on his countenance.

'_This is troubling. I have trusted James for years now and I feel he will take security for the Vytal Festival very seriously, but... He can be rash at times and I fear that with the threat of the White Fang, this may force his hand too far. I feel that something else is afoot however, something that I cannot see yet...These are dark days indeed… and I don't see it getting better anytime soon._'

'_Despite this, it seems that something must be done; if no one else will rise against this threat, then the duty will fall unto me once more. As per usual, I have made some prior preparations for investigating, and even combating any hidden evil that looms over the horizon. I have contacted an ex-student of mine with remarkable skill to train and oversee select teams of students. I have also made a private appeal to the Chief Constable of the Vale Police Department, and he has committed his finest detective for investigatory purposes. In addition, I have called in a favour with an old friend of mine; his military skills and assets will no doubt prove valuable. The three of them will likely to be complete strangers, so I have planned for us to all meet somewhere on neutral ground: a simple cafe in city, not too busy, but not too empty either._'

'_Even with this, it does pain me to see my responsibilities stripped from me, I'll admit, but at least the Vytal Festival will be as safe as it can be. Something tells me that James will likely try to make his new position known to the public and I wouldn't be too surprised to see Atlesian Knights patrolling the streets within the next few days. Provided my students are safe, I suppose I can remain civil with this change of events, despite not liking it very much._'

'_The festival itself will give the students time to unwind, which I'm sure they will all cherish in these current times. For many, the tournament will serve as test of arms as well. I am anxious to see the result of the months of training and preparation that they have conducted in, just to participate in the tournament. Some have trained their entire lives for events such as these. _

Pyrrha Nikos was one such example. She was a world renowned competitor in many tournaments and has held the honor of being able to win the Mistral Regional Tournament, four years in a row at that. Glynda had told him that the teen once defeated Team CRDL singlehandedly, which was quite a feat in itself...

Suddenly, his thoughts, as deep as they were, came to a screeching halt as a knocking sound came from the other side of his office door. "Come in," he answered, turning his chair to face his visitor.

The door opened to reveal the blonde haired Professor Goodwitch, her riding crop tucked under her arm and her scroll in hand. "Good evening Ozpin," she greeted, her eyes glued to her scroll.

"Good evening Glynda," he returned, pushing his ponderings to one side, "How may I help you?"

"I'm just checking in on you," she replied cryptically.

Ozpin narrowed his eyes a fraction, questioning her statement. "What ever would you be doing that for?"

She sighed, putting her scroll on his desk. "Rumours are starting to go around - about your leadership. The people are starting to question you after the events today, especially the students. No doubt the council will take an interest in this..."

"They have," Ozpin cut in, deciding to confide in her. "James is to oversee security for the Vytal Festival."

"Really?" She sighed again. "It'll be a mess down there. It won't be a festival, it will be a prison camp." Ozpin simply took a sip from his coffee, the bitter taste making him feel that little bit better. "Surely they said more," she continued, "they wouldn't have let you off so easily."

Now it was Ozpin's turn to sigh. He stood from his seat and out into the balcony, beckoning Professor Goodwitch to join him. He gazed briefly amongst the first stars to appear in the sky, silently embracing the cold evening breeze against his face. It was a few more moments before he spoke. "Nothing is certain yet," he said tactfully, "The council is to decide once the Vytal Festival has come to a close."

"I see," she said, closing the conversation.

In the silence that followed, Ozpin gazed out upon the setting sun as darkness began to fall upon his Academy, his own little Kingdom - perhaps even his legacy was drawing to a close. '_Only time will tell,_' he thought to himself. The moon didn't help to ease his mind either, it's broken appearance taunting him like a cursed metaphor for his career that he couldn't avoid. He definitely felt a sense of foreboding in the air that night, but since when had that ever stopped him?

"I take it you have a plan?" Glynda asked, raising an eyebrow in assumption.

That made Ozpin grin as he turned to her; it was the first grin he'd had all day. "Making plans is what I do, Glynda."

She put on a half smile to her seemingly life long friend. "Of course, it would be foolish to think otherwise. And I suppose that you will decline to share this plan with me?" Ozpin replied by taking another sip of his much loved coffee. He maintained his grin, but said nothing. "As per usual then," Glynda concluded contently, "I will continue my duties and try to keep any prying eyes away." She left the Headmaster with himself for company and went for her scroll, which was still resting peacefully upon the masterful craftsmanship that was Ozpin's desk.

Ozpin, the gentleman that he was, followed Miss Goodwitch into the warm and moved to the door, ready to show her out. "Will that be all, Glynda?" he asked politely.

"Just one more thing," she began, as she returned to his side, "Team RWBY. They have been through a lot over the past few days and must be exhausted both physically and mentally. I don't think it would be wise to throw them back into their everyday duties."

"I couldn't agree more," he acknowledged, opening the door door for her, "They deserve a good period of rest. Give them a few days, they've earned it."

"That would be good, I'm glad that you agree."

'_Indeed,_' he thought, '_Something tells me that those girls are going to be looking for more trouble sooner or later. They're going to need the rest._'

"Good night Professor Ozpin," Goodwitch said before turning to leave.

"And good night to you, Professor Goodwitch," Ozpin replied as he softly closed the door behind her.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

Midday. The time when it seemed like the whole of Vale dropped whatever they were doing and came out for lunch, smoke brakes, and social calls. A time honored tradition that didn't miss a beat even with the events of the past week. The return to a familiar schedule probably helped people deal with what was probably the biggest shock of their lives

No one ever thought that the Grimm would ever breach through the perimeter around Vale, let alone pop up right in the middle of the city square first thing in the morning. There hadn't been any real property damage or loss of life and the news presses had already pushed the tale off the headlines in favor of speculation about the upcoming tournament.

Open air cafes always made excellent sales during this short time period, especially in these warmer spring months. The place Ozpin had chosen for this meeting wasn't the most crowded place in Vale, but that was a good thing in this case. There were enough customers to keep the few staff busy, and provide distraction if this meeting was being observed.

All of these thoughts about a return to normalcy were a brief pleasant distraction from all of the dark threads that had woven themselves into his mind frighteningly fast since his world had been shaken up by the council.

And the man he still considered one of his best friends.

Ozpin sighed and place his coffee mug back on the metal table, intricately woven in patterns of vines and leaves like all of the other furniture in this place. Whatever appearances the facade of city life projected, Ozpin knew that things would probably never be the same again. If anything, it was only downhill from here. Perhaps Ironwood was right and he had become too cautious. keeping up with his old analogy, the scouts were back, but he couldn't commit everything he had just yet. This was a new kind of war. So he needed to adapt, to prepare both himself and his students for what was to come. But most importantly he needed to know more about the force really behind all of this.

Ozpin slowly tapped the fingers of his right hand on the hilt of his cane, while he looked through a few more files on his scroll. A habit picked up every since it became necessary for him to carry the walking stick. But he set both aside when a man in Vale's armed forces' dress uniform turned off the sidewalk, entered the cafe patio, and pulled out one of the other three chairs at the round table and sat down. He looked very different from when Ozpin last saw him.

Anyone looking at his straight featured face, hard brown eyes, and grey army buzz cut could probably guess what he did for a living despite his uniform, which was smooth and unwrinkled. It was colored rather bland in Ozpin's opinion, mostly grey with a few patches of black running down the sides. The shoulders held many symbols sewn onto them, which meant a variety of things, some indicating awards earned for various reasons. Others were regimental arms and deployment patches. All were rather plain next to the twin golden birds of prey on each side of his neck marking him as a full colonel. It all painted a picture that told Ozpin who this was.

"You're early." Ozpin said to the man while he reached for his coffee.

"I'm right on time with my schedule, and if I'm early and you were here before me what does that say?"

"Probably that you still can't tell time right, Darren."

Colonel Darren Bistre chuckled quietly and leaned back in the chair, folding his hands together on his lap and bringing his left foot up on to his other knee before he spoke, "Well, at least I'm here, and something tells me this isn't just for a chat over coffee. It wouldn't have anything to do with the occupying force, would it?"

"The Atlesians are just helping with security for the festival." Ozpin replied.

"Right, and robots roaming the streets like they're gonna stop and ask for papers helps with the security of an event still a ways off, how?"

A new voice spoke up, "It probably won't help at all, but Ozpin's hands are tied." Approaching the table was a man in his early twenties, dark hair framing his face and black shades blocking his eyes from view. His outfit was predominantly black and green; onyx black trench coat and matching slacks, with an emerald green shirt with a tie just a shade lighter. He took a seat and introduced himself to the colonel. "My name is Artemis Hunter." He held his hand out in greeting.

The colonel shook his hand. "Why'd Oz call you?"

Artemis adjusted his shades and gave the two a crooked smile. "I'm here to help Ozpin. As of the current moment, my job is to search into any suspicious characters I come across, as well as observing specific teams and students." He held his scroll up. "While I have the info elsewhere, I keep the bare essentials of my current files to keep tab on what needs to be taken into further consideration."

Ozpin appraised him at that. "What would happen were it to fall into hands that shouldn't have such information, as that is very sensitive data, if I might say."

Artemis shook his head. "I have it set to delete all stored information if the wrong magnetic field is in effect when it is accessed. The same field brought into effect by either of the electromagnetic fields on my person, which both also contain the key code to unlock. Both the codes and the magnetic field are required to access it. Without both, the whole set of data is wiped."

Darren frowned. "It's still nothing good, no matter what Ironwood promises."

"True," The agent replied. "But I will help where I can, though that is nowhere near foolproof. We need some kind of assurance that we can handle any threats that try their way with subterfuge and deception."

"Judging from that I take it I'm here about more direct actions…"

Ozpin brought his elbows up to the table and placed his palms together before speaking, "I may not be able to gather as many hunters as I need to, and the council is phasing me out of decision making for the moment. I need to know how prepared Vale is to fight."

"Oh, I'm sure those hunters will be around if theres any chance of getting caught on camera."

"Colonel, please…"

"You could of had any number of the top brass give you the rundown, why me?" Darren paused to give Ozpin a chance to elaborate.

"I trust your judgement."

"Well, you remember the last time you did that, don't you?"

Artemis spoke up. "Professor, what's he talking about?"

Colonel Bistre looked at the young huntsman. "The city industrial zone, seven years ago. Were you around then, kid?"

Artemis went back through years of information in his head, his face lost a little bit of color as he came to a conclusion. "No, I was working through combat school to apply to Beacon…" He looked at Ozpin. "What did you have to do with the massacre?"

"I didn't think there would be any violence, and I trusted you not to act so rash," Ozpin looked at the colonel.

The colonel leaned towards Ozpin, arms on the table poised threateningly on the edge of his seat. Memories of the past began to shift his serene expression into a darker tone. "I acted accordingly." he replied

Before a full blown argument could erupt Ozpin held up both his hands in a gesture of peace. "I know you were forced to defend yourselves…"

"You could have brought that up at my court martial."

"We both know the collateral damage wasn't why that happened. The army was keeping the repercussions quiet, but I helped as much as I could. So please… don't be childish."

Darren sighed, then called a waitress over and ordered a drink. After waiting silently for a few moments, he spoke once more.

"I have a full infantry regiment, an armored auxiliary, and a mobile artillery auxiliary, all with air transport, bells and whistles, escorts to be deployed to clear the old Mountain Glenn tunnels and protect the sappers while they seal them off."

Ozpin set his hands down on his lap. "Theoretically, how quickly could you deploy into the city in case of an emergency?"

"How theoretical?"

Ozpin tilted his head forward, silently answering the man.

"...An hour maybe more, maybe less." Bistre said, "It depends what I'm doing and what you want done. Other reserves could take as long as two or three depending on the decision making curve and the situation. There's only like, three or four infantry companies right in the city, but they'll be thrown in defensive positions around government buildings, plus the police forces, but they're almost useless. I think you'd know more about what the hunters would do… in this hypothetical situation." Both Ozpin and the colonel turned to Artemis who had kept obviously silent through this exchange. Darren spoke up. "Spit it out before you choke kid."

"I'm sorry?" Artemis asked him, unsure of what he wanted.

"Questions, now, before I get bored and leave."

The agent sighed before composing himself. "I really have no major questions about this. The only thing I'm concerned about is how we would handle civilian evacuation should the streets become the battlegrounds of this hypothetical scenario."

"And I take it you have an idea?" Prodded Ozpin.

Artemis nodded. "While they are versed in combat, I doubt that many of the teams will be ready to face a true combat situation where civilians could be caught in the crossfire. That being said, those teams that are still in training are the best we can use to escort them out. They won't have to directly combat the enemy, but at the same time should be sufficient in warding any unwanted company away." He turned to Darren. "Your opinion on this, Colonel?"

He brought his left hand up to his chin stroking his light facial hair while thinking for a moment, "I'm not sure, would we be expecting a repeat of what happened last week."

Ozpin looked at Artemis for a moment, the hunter silently shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands up.

The colonel continued, "We don't have the logistics to completely evacuate the city. Worst case scenario people will keep their heads down indoors and stay off the streets. I don't think any Beacon trainees should be deployed, I don't care how skilled they think they are. I suspect that if any are caught in the city _if _something goes down, they'll disrupt whatever until the-" He hooked his left thumb back indicating himself, -professionals arrive."

He took a sip from his newly arrived iced tea, and leaned back into his chair. "But really none of you have any idea if anything is even going to happen."

"I have a feeling," Ozpin replied

"Do you have proof?"

"I have another investigator coming in, and other hunters out looking for answers elsewhere."

"So…. No then."

Artemis spoke up, "It doesn't matter, we know enough."

Darren shook his head at him, "That's not good enough, so do yourself a favor kid. Get out before this turns into a real conspiracy. It's no fun being in the council's shit pit, which is where I see this road going." He rubbed both of his hands together and shifted in his seat preparing to stand, "Anyway, is that all?"

"Please stay," Ozpin asked of him, "There should be another person coming that I would like you both to meet."

The three of them settled back down in silence. After a moment, Artemis posed a question to the colonel. "Why are you guys closing the tunnels?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No, I mean why the army?" He looked over at Ozpin "Couldn't professor Goodwitch help, or someone else with a similar semblance."

"That is a tall order," Ozpin replied "It would probably take more energy than any one person could muster to close those gaps."

Colonel Bistre looked at Artemis for a moment. "What exactly do you do?"

Artemis replied, "I'm a freelance agent, although I do get to pick and choose what jobs I take."

"Do you get much into politics?" Darren asked.

"Not all that much," He answered "Occasionally, if a job requires it, but I don't think I'm going to be running for the council anytime soon. Why?"

Darren laughed briefly and took a sip from his drink before answering, "The government's just one big chess game, all the service branches and politicians are pieces. But the pieces have attitudes about their roles. If one gets more time in focus then another, stuff like this happens. Just idiots with too much metal on their chests reaching for rulers to make themselves feel better."

Artemis sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I must say, Colonel, that you seem to be very opinionated, given the fact that you've seemed to form conclusions without all of the facts, concerning me or the students of Beacon."

"Opinions and conclusions based on the observed and experience are what most people have, and if I offended you somehow, sorry. I don't care" he replied.

Ozpin frowned at the agent, a bit unsure why the man would say such things. "It's prudent to remember that we are all entitled to our opinions, Artemis."

"Yes, but opinions without a basis or reason may very well lead to mistakes, any number of which could be costly." Artemis fixed his shades and spoke. "Unless he has actual records on others, he shouldn't disregard them. Some might just surprise."

Darren scowled. " And you don't have opinions?"

Artemis shook his head. "You misunderstand. I merely say that opinions shouldn't affect choice, logic and rationale should. Even to that, there are exemptions, but it is a good guideline." He removed his glasses, green eyes blinking in the sunlight before adjusting. He turned his gaze to Darren. "I was not stating my opinion of you when I spoke of your opinionatedness, merely stating what I've observed. Whether it is true or not is all based upon you yourself."

"Are you sure you're not a lawyer?" Darren asked with a small grin before taking another drink.

Artemis turned his attention to Ozpin. "Branching away from that, who else are you expecting?"

"Ah, it appears that you are refering to me." came a new voice. The three men turned to the speaker. He was adorned in a pale green long coat, with dark grey suit trousers covering his legs. On his head was a classic elementary style hat, signifying his position as a veteran detective. A gold chain could be seen clearly from his left coat pocket, linking to the masterfully crafted timepiece that he held in his left hand. Within his right was a simple smoking pipe of heavily varnished dark wood and beautifully polished silver.

Before he seated himself, he replaced his pocket watch and addressed the group. "Greetings, gentlemen. This is the company of the esteemed Professor Ozpin, I presume?"

"Ah yes, our third member," Ozpin began, "Take a seat, Detective."

The detective did just that, bowing his head ever so slightly before taking the fourth and final place at the table. He took some time to make himself comfortable. "Please excuse my tardiness, chaps; Navigating the city is not one of my finest traits." He then turned his attention to the pipe in his hand, then stopped to confer with the group. "You kind fellows don't mind if I smoke, do you?"

"Of course not, Detective." Ozpin answered calmly.

"Jolly good!" the Detective exclaimed merrily as he pulled out a box of matches from his right coat pocket. Like a well oiled machine, he lit the match and ignited the herbs within his pipe in one smooth motion. Then, after placing the pipe in his mouth, he inhaled deeply and exhaled in a similar fashion, a small ring of thin smoke forming over the centre of the table. Satisfied with his display, he grunted happily and returned his gaze upon the group of men in front of him. They had not taken their eyes off of him ever since he had appeared, expecting a proper introduction. Finally, he took the hint and presented himself. "Ah yes, of course! My name is Detective Bill Topaz and I am humbly at your service."

"And the services you offer are?" The colonel asked.

Topaz seemed a little flustered at the comment. "Well, I thought it was rather obvious… Colonel, is it?" He said as he pointing with his pipe towards the rank patches on Bistre's collar. "I _am _a detective after all."

"There are quite a few types of detectives you know. What do you do?"

It was Ozpin that spoke for him. "The Chief Constable of the Vale Police Department spoke…" He hesitated searching his head for the right word: "...highly of him. He was rather vague about the Detective's skills and accomplishments however. Would you like to elaborate, Detective Topaz?"

"Of course professor," Topaz said, straightening his cap a fraction, "Now, my great great great great great grandfather was the noble Sir Archimedes Topaz. No doubt you have heard of him?"

Artemis shrugged. "No idea." He jerked his thumb towards the other two at the table. "I think they do."

"Sounds vaguely familiar…" Bistre said.

"Of course." Ozpin replied.

"Spiffing! Now, thanks to him, my family has bred many top notch detectives into the Vale Police Department, one of which being my humble self. Long have his descendants aspired to achieve the traits that he did, and I..."

Bistre interrupted him "Yes, I'm sure that's all fascinating, but he isn't here, and so far only one of his descendants is here, you…..so" He outstretched his right hand indicating Topaz should get to the point

Topaz sagged his shoulders slightly. "Oh, well, if you insist… I have often been celebrated for my skill at picking out the tiniest of details from which have turned the tables when solving a case."

"Skills don't necessarily translate from one type of work to another. If observation is your thing, did any of us miss anything walking in here? "

"Well then, where to start… the waitress? That chap in the corner over there? Or perhaps we could go with the handgun that you are currently concealing?"

"Let's start with that, assuming I do have one, what makes you think I'm armed?"

"You see, your body language as I initially approached the table suggested the firearm's general location. Upon further inspection, I noticed the small protrusion from your jacket, reinforcing my theory that you have a handgun in an upper body holster on the left side of your lower chest. And come to think of it good sir, the general bulk of your torso would suggest that you are _very _heavily muscled in that area, or that you are also hiding some sort of ballistic armour under there. I believe that the latter is most likely."

Bistre grinned a little and held open his jacket for them to see his concealed plating and massive handgun that was certainly not standard issue,

Artemis eyed the weapon with a skeptical gaze. "Why do you have that here of all places?"

Bistre tilted his head back at the agent, "I wouldn't be so outraged boy, I see you hunters wandering around town with a whole lot more cutlery and blatant firepower than me on a daily basis."

Topaz leaned back in his seat and blew out another smoke ring. "I must say that the colonel makes a good point, Master…?"

"Artemis. Call me Artemis." he said, filling in the gap.

"Master Artemis, yes. A pleasure."

Artemis sighed. "I'd prefer you to use my name and only that. I am not too much for the matter of titles. I am no master in any way and such titles don't suit me."

Topaz removed his pipe and raised his other hand in an apologetic motion. "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect, my boy; I have a habit of getting ahead of myself, you see…"

Silence settled over their table, Ozpin took this opportunity to finally get to the point of their presence. He took his cane and stood it upright between his feet to lean on it while he talked. "Gentlemen, I hope you realize how serious things are at the moment. I would not have brought you in, if circumstances were different. We may not have much time left to act, as it stands. I still have duties at Beacon to attend to so I am going to be relying heavily on all your abilities. Are we clear?

He received nods of agreement from all three of them sitting at the table

Ozpin stood, pocketing his scroll and holding his cane under his right arm.

Artemis came to his feet as well, placing his shades on once more. He turned his head to address the colonel and detective. "I think it would be an advisable course to head over and check out the tunnels. We might be able to dig up some information that the initial sweep didn't muster."

"Aside from the pile of scrap metal that nobody had any use for at all?" Bistre asked ire in his voice.

Topaz chuckled lightly, "I am certainly more qualified to catalogue those tunnels then anyone else. Come now, let us be off Colonel."

Bistre sighed, tugging his dress coat back into place. He gulped down the last of his drink and threw a few lien cards onto the table to cover a tip and their bill. When he stood he looked professor Ozpin square in the eye and asked him. "And if you're wrong about things taking a turn for the worse?"

"Then I will happily be wrong Darren. Now, get moving."

He tapped two fingers of his left hand to his forehead in a mock salute, "Aye, sir."

**End of Chapter 1…**

Ozpin, Detective Bill Topaz, and first section before break: De4thstopper

Second Section, Colonel Bistre: Darkerpaths

Small edits, Artemis Jade Hunter: GateMasterGreen

Story Founder: PeoplexLikexGrapes

Hope you all liked it. The small credits above will be in most chapters to relay who did what, so everyone gets credit for their work. Feel free to check out everyone's pages, which leads me to include another name; ShadowCinder333. As of my own personal opinion, I feel you should also check out the page of one of the original peeps who intended to help (seeing as we don't know if they are still working with us or not), so go and take a look at Arieko's page. I've read some of their works and they're pretty good. That's all for now. Remember that I will respond to most any PMs you guys send, whether to ask questions or just chat. Adieu for now!


	2. Chapter 2

Yo Peeps and welcome to chapter two of Converging Paths. The brunt of this chapter is done by none other than ShadowCinder333. As always, go check out the pages of each author who helped in this endeavour, all four of which are in the previous chapter's credits. Now, this chapter is focused around Yang Xiao Long and takes place the day before the last chapter. You'll see why I said that when chapter 3 is released, or if the chapter in question is switched, then the fourth chapter. Now, onto the glory of Cinder's writing!

_**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Sam I Am. I did not steal Nora's pancakes and ham.**_

One week... One week, 19 hours, and 34 minutes. That's how long it had been since Team RWBY had defeated the Grimm in Vale and ultimately put Roman behind bars. Words like sleepy, tired, and even exhausted would be an understatement to describe how Yang was feeling afterwards.

However, that didn't mean that regular life was over, as even saving hundreds of lives and defeating a criminal's mastermind plot wasn't an exception to continue on with school. Yang's violet eyes snapped open as the sound of Ruby's wake-up call pierced her ears.

"_**VREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**__,_" A whistle cut through the air like a freshly sharpened knife. "RISE AND SHINE, TEAM RWBY!" Her younger sister screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the blond to tumble off of her bed in surprise.

"Gah!" Yang exclaimed, and blinked several times, "Hey, when did this carpet get so bumpy?"

"It might be that you are on top of your partner," Blake said grouchily, bags still under her eyes from the lack of sleep she had been getting for the past few days. She still had to catch up from her insomnia episode earlier in the month.

"Heh, heh," Yang laughed sheepishly, standing up before Blake made a scratching post out of her. "Sorry 'bout that, Blake."

"Ruby," Weiss said, obviously vexed. "I thought we got rid of that whistle?"

"More like threw it out of the window," Yang mumbled, turning to look at her sister. "Ruby, what time it is anyways?"

"Exactly 7:15," Ruby stated cheerfully, pointing to rising sun outside the window, hovering just a bit over the horizon. "The perfect time to get up and get ready!" She exclaimed, flashing them a cheeky grin.

"Ruby, considering the fact that it's only been a week since we stopped a horde of Grimm from destroying the city, I THINK WE DESERVE SOME REST!" Weiss finished her sentence with an icy glare. The harsh tone at the end caused Ruby to wince slightly. The heiress didn't seem too pleased with her.

"But that's exactly what I'm talking about," Ruby said, rebounding from her partner's mini tirade. "Ozpin may have given us some time off, but he still expects us to be able to get back into schedule soon. We still have classes, guys, and don't forget the Vytal Tournament is just around the corner." The last point registered with her team, at least, as they all took the time to digest her reasoning.

"Ruby's right," Blake sighed at last. "We have been spending the past several days relaxing, but that doesn't mean we can slack off forever. We're still students, if not warriors, and that means we have school to think about." She suppressed a groan at the thought of classes, considering Port was still a bit over the top, even at the best of times. "It's about time we return to Beacon life and train for the upcoming competition."

"I think we've already trained enough, to be honest," Weiss huffed. "But...I suppose you have a point, especially about classes." As much as she didn't like it, her pride did demand a certain level of competence in her academics.

"Eh, I still want some sleep." Yang yawned. "But, I'm the only one left to agree, so let's just get dressed and try to wake up." She snorted. "Like that it'll happen."

"I call the shower first," Weiss exclaimed, a bit out of the norm for the heiress, given that she usually preferred to catch what little sleep she could before she was forced to get up. The white-haired girl then grabbed her clothes and raced into the bathroom before slamming the door shut behind her, leaving the others to wonder at the unusual change of events.

"I'll fill up Zwei's bowl," Ruby offered, the first to recover, before grabbing a can, working on opening the can. Ever since Zwei had helped defeat the robots in the tunnels, Tai Yang had decided that the canine deserved a bit of rest as well before having to be shipped back home in the mail and let his daughter's keep an eye on the puppy.

Yang watched her sister play with their dog, and let herself smile. Well, try to smile, that is. The past few nights had been keeping her on edge, toying with her emotions.

"Yang, are you alright?" Blake asked, placing a hand on her teammate's shoulder, amber eyes reflecting some concern. "You seem...distant."

Yang shook her head, forcing a smile to try and ease her partner. "Yeah, never better Blake."

"Okay, if you say so," The Faunus gave her another concerned look, but backed off.

'_Too close,' _Yang thought grimly. Normally, the blond didn't worry about things, unless the matter happened to center around Ruby, her family, or her team. This time, unfortunately, it was because a certain recurring dream wouldn't leave her alone.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

_**The Dream**_

She didn't know how she had gotten therein the first place. She was walking down the same stone walkway that she had strolled along on the first day of the school year. A thin layer of milky white fog hugged the ground, some rising to frame the lightposts or any of the benches that lined the path, outlining distinct features and giving the area a slight illumination.

Yang, to her credit, knew it was a dream. She had experienced dreams before (as have most people), so the faint haze of dizziness in her mind wasn't all too surprising, to say the least. What she couldn't figure out, though, was why a lady, one she had never met before, with dark garnet colored clothing and a white mask similar to a Grimm's, was standing right in front of her.

Dreams weren't supposed to be shared by two people, at least, that's what Yang thought. Sure, the blonde was familiar dreams where people from her life were there, but this was drastically different. This woman, whoever she was, felt _real. _

She felt familiar too.

"Who," Yang started to speak, a bit unsure of what she wanted to ask. "...Who are you?" she finally asked, cautiously approaching the woman. The woman didn't speak, only move to take off her headpiece, revealing onyx black hair and flaming red eyes.

Flaming red eyes.

Yang held in a gasp, and felt her own eyes shift into the same brilliant shade of red.

"Yang," The woman said. "We...have a lot to talk about."

A lot to talk about? Who was this person? Yang backed away slightly, staying alert for any sign that the woman intended to harm her. "Who are you?" She repeated in a sterner voice. "And what do you want?"

"I'm...I'm Raven Branwen," the now named Raven said slowly. Suddenly, the air around Yang started to grow disorientated, rippling like a pool of water just heavily disturbed. "Please, just calm down," Raven besought. "Or else our connection will be severed."

"What connection?" Yang asked, temper flaring. She wanted a straight answer. "What do you want with me? I remember you, from the train. You saved my life and I want to know why."

Raven licked her lips nervously, worry etched on her face, "Okay, I'll talk. I've been following you and your team for quite some time."

"Why?"

"Because…" Raven seemed to debate to herself, "I'm-"

_Crash! _

The sound of glass shattering reverberated in Yang's ears, as the stone walkway beneath her started to break and small pieces began to fall through the ground, the cracks widening and revealing a black abyss underneath. "What are you doing?" Yang seethed.

"It's not me!" Raven insisted. "Something is trying to keep me from speaking to you, so please, you need to listen!"

Yang stood still, giving a sight node of her head, showing that she was willing to hear the girl out.

"There's something coming, something big, and that's the reason I've been following you. That's the reason why you need to trust me."

"What are you talking about?" Yang questioned. "What's coming?"

Raven ignored the question and continued to speak. "Whatever you do, do not trust them. Don't let them control you, and don't let your past affect what is to come."

"Who?" Yang asked helplessly and watched as the floor beneath her body broke apart completely. Feet touching nothing, Yang could only silently scream as she fell into the empty world of darkness below.

And then...then she woke up. Sweating and barely containing a shout, Yang gripped onto her bedsheets and forced herself to take deep, calming breaths. The sound of her teammates' oblivious breathing managed to ease the blond, and she soon let go of her blankets.

"Raven Branwen," She muttered softly, closing her eyes in thought. A million questions raced through her head, but she refused to go to sleep again. Quietly exiting her bed and grabbing her scroll, she hopped down onto the floor and began to make her way to the door. _Almost ther-_

"Yang?" A familiar voice questioned, causing the blond to whip around in time to see Ruby rubbing her eyes in a tired motion, "What are-" The young girl yawned. "-you doing awake?"

"Uh," Yang licked her lips, struggling to come up with a good excuse, and gave a dismissive wave to her younger sister. "No reason. Just having issues with getting some sleep."

Ruby, now recovering from her bout of sleepiness, frowned, "Yang, it's late at night and we've just recently wasted all our energy defeating Torchwick. Why would you be having trouble falling to sleep?" She gave the blonde a concerned look.

"I'm fine, sis." Yang forced herself to smile. "See?"

Ruby crossed her arms, "I'm not a baby, Yang. I know when you're lying and, as team leader, I order you to tell me what's wrong." The redhead softened her gaze. "Please."

Yang sighed, but finally relented to her sister's wishes. "Okay, okay. I'll talk."

"That actually worked," Ruby muttered in shock, but composed herself. "O-oh, I mean, okay then, teammate Yang, explain." She sat down on the floor, her legs crisscrossed like a schoolgirl's. Yang silently laughed and followed Ruby's example.

"Ever since we fought Roman's allies on the train, I've been having this really...odd feeling lately," Yang began, not meeting Ruby's silver eyes. "I was fighting the weird hair colored girl-"

"The one with the umbrella?" Ruby asked.

"Actually, I think it was a parasol, but that doesn't matter," Yang said dismissively. "Anyways. She...defeated me," Her words became a bit muffled. She didn't like admitting to anyone that she lost in a fight. Unless… it was to Pyrrha. Pyrrha beat everyone.

"She defeated you?" Ruby asked in surprise. Yang hadn't shared this with her before.

"Yeah…" Yang grumbled. "Knocked me for a bit. I don't know what happened afterwards, only that a woman in dark red clothing entered, miss short must have fled and when I woke up, she opened this strange portal thing and then disappeared."

"What happened to the other girl?"

"Like I said, I think she ran," Yang explained. "After that, I thought that I had just imagined the whole thing, but tonight…" She trailed off, prompting Ruby to shift closer to her sister.

"But tonight?" Ruby repeated, motioning for her sister to continue.

"I had this dream. Or, I think it was a dream," Yang continued. "I was walking down one of Beacon's pathways when _she_ appeared." Flashes of burning eyes and inky-black hair erupted in Yang's vision. "She called herself Raven Branwen."

"Raven Branwen…" Ruby said slowly, mulling the name over in her mind. "I've never heard of her before."

"Same here," Yang said. "She was going on about not trusting someone, but before she could tell me who the whole place sort of...shattered."

"...shattered?" Ruby asked in a confused tone.

"Like when I punched that Neo chick and she broke apart," Yang explained. "Except this time it was the floor...and I fell into a deep abyss."

"Oh," Ruby said. A deafening silence filled the air for a few moments, neither girl knowing what to say. "Well, at least you know who the woman is."

"That's the thing." Yang suddenly jumped up. "I don't remember where I know her name, but I have a feeling that I remember her in general. I just don't know where from."

"Hmm... " Ruby mused. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she nearly toppled Yang over as she too jumped up. "Wait a sec, did you say Raven Branwen?"

"Yeah…" Yang said in an unsure tone, not getting it.

"Branwen?" Ruby shook her sister's shoulder, trying to get her to see what she was saying.

Confusion seeped through Yang's head before the realization slapped her. "Qrow!"

"Qrow Branwen!" Ruby exclaimed in an excited, yet hushed, whisper yell, glancing over to the still sleeping members of RWBY. She sighed in relief that they hadn't stirred.

"What are you two dunces doing?!" An icy voice seethed, causing the two sisters to yelp in surprise. Well, Ruby mused, one hadn't stirred. Weiss's snow white hair seemed to glow in the dark as the heiress got up and marched over to the chatty duo, "It hasn't even been three days since Roman's failed attack and I would highly appreciate some sleep!"

Yang rolled her eyes, "Relax, Ice Queen." She ignored the icy look she got from Weiss.. "Rubes and I were just putting the pieces together in a family mystery."

"A what now?" Weiss questioned.

"Yang had a dream-" Ruby began.

"Vision," Her sister corrected.

"A vision sent by a woman named Raven Branwen," Ruby finished.

Weiss didn't speak for a couple of moments. "...So...this is why you're up at midnight yapping away?" She looked a bit frustrated at the two, understandably so.

"Well, this Raven person did save my life from that ice-cream freak," Yang pointed out in a blunt manner. "And she told me her last name was Branwen, which is our Uncle Qrow's last name as well."

"But, why didn't Qrow tell us about her?" Ruby asked out loud.

"Maybe something happened to them?" Weiss suggested. "Family's do fall apart sometimes, after all."

"Maybe…" Yang sighed.

"Listen, Yang." Weiss gave a soft yawn. "As much as this interests me, this is something that needs to be dealt with once you're fully rested. I'm sure that as soon as the Breach fiasco has died down, you can question your uncle all you want, but for now, we need sleep." She gave a tired smile and walked back to her comfy bed. "Good night." Yang let out a frustrated growl as she watched her teammate fall asleep like nothing was up.

"Weiss is right," Ruby said, giving her sister a quick hug. "We need rest. I'm sure that we'll be able to ask Qrow later. Then you'll get the answers you want."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Yang said, "I'm just confused."

"We all are," Ruby said in a surprisingly sullen tone. "But that doesn't mean things can't get better. We still have the rest of the year and even after that."

"Oh joy," Yang said dryly. "Schoolwork."

"It'll be fine." The redhead giggled and skipped towards her bunk. "And I promise we'll ask Qrow, kay?"

"Kay," Yang said and climbed up to her bed sedately. '_But, what if Qrow doesn't have answers? What if he does, but he refuses to give them? What...what if this woman knows about my mom…'_

"Stop it, Yang," The blond scolded herself, then softly chuckled. "You're becoming like Blake." She rubbed her sleepy eyes and pulled the fleece covers over her body, wishing for darkness to take over, and maybe, just maybe, for the woman to even return.

Sleep never came.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

She didn't bother to tell Blake about the night conversation, not with everything going on for the past couple of days. It was evident that everyone was still extremely grouchy and a bit annoyed at the fact of having to attend school again, and even Yang herself wasn't in the best mood, but as long as they managed to get ready in time and have a good day, the blond guessed that everything would turn out alright.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

"YANG DON'T LOOK IN HERE!"

"Ruby, where did you put my bow?!"

"ZWEI! Don't claw on Blake's Ninjas of Love!"

"He's wha-Oh that is it, you insolent canine!"

"Put a towel on, Ice Queen!"

"Let-him-go-now-BLAKE! He didn't mean to mess with your stuff!"

"I told you to keep him away from my belongings!"

"Well, at least it isn't as bad as the pee…"

"Excuse me?!"

"Yang, I said stop looking in here!"

"I have to get my brush for goodness sakes, Weiss! We're all girls here! Let me just-"

"...He urinated on my bow?"

"Oops...heh...heh."

"Just a little farther…OW! Did you just smack me with your hair-dryer?!"

"Get. OUT!"

Yang raced out of the bathroom, eyes wide and breathing as heavy as the night of the nightmare. Ignoring the sight of a certain faunus trying to kill a happy-go-lucky dog, who was running around the dorm, she kicked the room door open and entered the hallway, determined to find some slight sliver of peace. The muffled cries of her little sister were soon drowned out and she slid down the wall

"Sup," A familiar voice said from across the hall, and two turquiose blue eyes peeked out from behind JNPR'S dorm, followed shortly by three other terrified expressions.

"Are...you guys okay back there?" Jaune asked, still garbed in his childish onesie.

"Oh, never better!" Yang said sarcastically.

"I take it that you all are still in need of rest?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Mmhmm," Yang said, nodding vigorously.

"Ruby, can you please get my bow from that insolent canine?" The blonde hearf Blake ask in a somewhat passive aggressive tone.

"Zwei! Come back-" _**CRASH!**_ Yang flinched as she heard the sound of glass breaking.

"RUBY!" Weiss's voice shrieked.

"Uh...well…" Jaune gulped.

"Aw, you guys have a lot more fun than we do." Nora pouted.

"I don't think they're having fun, Nora," Ren deadpanned.

"What is happening out there!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Aren't you going to...help?" Jaune asked.

"Hmm? Me?" Yang said, "...No. Weiss has got it."

"Are you-" Pyrrha's sentence was cut off as the sound of ice forming echoed throughout the hallway. "Ah, I see."

"Yep and that's my cue to reenter that battlefield that is my team," Yang stated flatly. "Meet you guys at breakfast!"

"Hey guys, how about we break things as a team!" Yang heard Nora's warhammer shrink into its more compact size, as the brawler slipped into her own dorm to avoid the orange-haired girl's future reign of destruction.

"UNFREEZE ZWEI!" The blond brawler let out a strangled sound as she witnessed a partially frozen Ruby tackle a damp, only-in-her-towel Weiss to the carpet, "NOW!" Yang glanced over towards her pet corgi in the middle of giant ice prison, along with a very, very irked faunus holding a yellow colored bow.

"Uh…" Yang said.

"Yaaaaang!" Ruby cried. "Weiss froze Zwei!"'

"Ruby, get off me!" Weiss shoved Ruby off her chest with her free hand and pushed herself up with Myternaster, "It wasn't my fault! You knocked me over and activated my weapon!"

"Who carries their weapon into the bathroom anyways!" Ruby argued.

"I am going to destroy that insufferable dog!" Blake growled from her icy corner, "He peed on my bow!"

"Yeah, yeah." Yang walked over to her bedside table and grabbed Ember Celicas from their hiding spot. "I got ya." Putting the gauntlets on, she let herself give a wicked grin. "Now, just stay still…"

"What are you-?" Blake's sentence was cut short as a blast of flames engulfed the room, sending team RWBY, minus Yang herself, spiraling past their door, across the hall, before finally landing in JNPR's room. The blonde smirked and, pushing away the charred pieces of rubble falling from the doorframe, strolled towards her group.

"So, can we all agree to focus on getting ready and not murdering corgis?" She said, staring at all her friends piled up in one black-burned mound.

"Uh-huh," RWB answered dizzily, Nevermores spinning around their heads.

"Why does this stuff happen to us?" Jaune moaned and promptly fell to the ground.

**XXXCONVERGEXX**

"Whoa, you guys-"

"Don't even try to finish that sentence, Sun," Blake warned, her teeth grit.

"O-okay than. But...why is your bow all wet-"

"Don't finish that one either."

Yang rolled her eyes at the two faunus' antics, and played with her meal of slightly burnt eggs and toast. Ever since blowing up her dorm, the two teams had made their way to the cafeteria in hopes of getting something to eat before the rest of the students came along. However, Sun and Neptune were there and, of course, decided to give their two cents about RWBY's somewhat irked nature.

"Wait, wait, wait," Neptune shook his head. "You blasted your dorm with your weapons?!"

Yang shrugged almost too casually. "Yeah, why?"

"Wow, you guys really must be in a bad mood," Sun chimed.

"Don't even get me started," all four members of RWBY said in unison.

"Well, at least we don't have any more cult meetings to sneak into or terrorizing Grimm to fight," Sun said, trying to be optimistic.

"But we still have questions that still have yet to be answered," Blake countered in an annoyed tone.

"Blake, it'll be fine," Ruby said.

"Yeah, I am really not up to have a heart-to-heart conversation about obsessiveness right now," Yang groaned, earning her a laugh from her usually stoic partner.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Blake said.

"So, what are you guys planning to do now since Roman's behind bars?" Neptune asked.

"We were planning to try and get adjusted to Beacon again," Yang said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But, it's sorta backfiring."

"Eh, it just takes some time," Sun said, peeling open a banana before taking a large munch.

"We were also hoping to train more for the Vytal Festival," Weiss said. "But...that plan may need to be put on hold for a while."

"I sure that battling a Paladin throughout the streets of Vale counts as training," Jaune said from across the table.

"Or hijacking an already hijacked train from a notorious criminal," Pyrrha added, joining in on the chat.

"You guys are entering the competition, right?" Yang asked the monkey faunus and blue-haired boy.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Sun said, "I mean, c'mon! Being able to kick other kingdoms' butts with my staff. How cool is that?"

"The Vytal Tournament is not a "butt-kicking" competition," Weiss said indignantly, huffing slightly. "It is a time-honored tradition that-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sun dismissed. "Listen, there is a fine line between listening and not caring. I walk that line every day of my life."

"Ugh, Sun…" Blake glowered at her friend.

"What?" Sun said.

"Hey, Sun," Yang suddenly jumped in. Her mind spun with a crazy idea, and a strange glint appeared in her lilac orbs.

"Oh, no…" Ruby covered her head with her crimson hood.

"Yes?" Sun said slowly, taking another bite out of his banana.

"I don't think Blake finds your rudeness..._apeeling,_" Yang gave a small wink.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

**End…**

Main body of the chapter, Pyrrha Nikos and Sun Wukong- ShadowCinder

Editing and revision, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna- GateMasterGreen

Founder of the story- PeoplexLikexGrapes

Shoutout to De4thstopper as well!

Well, that's chapter two for you all. The next chapter will be released in two weeks, which is the plan. Please check out everyone's pages! I say this, not because they ask, but because I seriously think you should. They're pretty kick-ass writers. For my readers, Ship Shape's poll is still up, so feel free to check that out. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

PS… (never done one of these before, but) TIME FOR A **BONUS SCENE!**

All kidding aside, we needed this info down and out, so the next chapter will be all ready for some of the dialogue we had set up. This scene is told more from Blake's perspective and takes place the day before this chapter. The above chapter takes place the day before the first chapter, sorry. The third chapter is planned to take place at the end of the day of this chapter and continue on into the same day as the Ozpin chapter. Really confusing timeline, but it should sort itself out after the fact. Now, on to the bonus scene.

**The Day Before, 2 Days Before Ozpin Chapter…**

Amber eyes fluttered open and close as the cat faunus tried to shrug off the fatigue of sleep that still had a hold on her consciousness. What she wouldn't give for some coffee right now… come to think of it, food would also be good. As if in answer to her brain's ideas, her stomach rumbled, signalling to her that she needed sustenance. Slowly sitting up, she glanced about to see that Weiss was still asleep in her bed as well as Ruby in the bunk above the heiress. She couldn't quite tell with Yang, considering she had a bed blocking her view.

Pushing her covers away, she clambered out of the bunk, careful to avoid the sleeping ball of fur that was Zwei and having to reign in the hiss she felt rising in her throat. Her faunus features did give some influence to her personality, such as her aversion to dogs. Casting the thoughts aside, she looked up into the bunk above her and was surprised that the blonde wasn't there.

Blake shrugged before setting about and getting everything together for the day. After changing her clothes and freshening up in the bathroom, she stepped into the hallway and made her way to the cafeteria. As she walked in, she noted that there were very few people awake at six in the morning. The staff of the building, though, did provide food this early for students who woke early to train at such ungodly hours such as this one.

Getting a tray of food together, she sat at a table beside a man dressed in rather sleek looking clothing. She couldn't see his eyes, due to the shades obscuring her vision, so she hadn't a clue of where he was looking or what color his eyes were, despite the rest of his appearance screaming GREEN! Sure, he work a black trench coat, but the shirt and tie under it were differing shades of green. She figured that he was wearing black pants as well before she looked at his hair. it was slightly longer than Jaune's, but more well kept and it was black instead of blonde, with green highlights.

She was shocked when he addressed her. "You are Blake Belladonna, yes? Of Team RWBY?" He set his utensils down, turning slightly to face her.

Blake nodded hesitantly. "That would be correct, though, I'd like to know where you learned of that."

He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a Scroll, booting it up and handing it to her. "Ozpin has employed me to handle a few matters of the school and recommended that I keep an eye on a few teams, including your own." He pressed a link on the screen she was looking at and her file came up. "Your transcripts just happened to come with a picture of you is all."

The cat faunus nodded in acceptance. That seemed to make sense to her. Another thought came to mind. "You know my name, but I don't know yours. Perhaps you'd share it with me."

"Artemis Jade Hunter, at your service." he replied in a neutral tone. "Any further questions, kitty cat?"

Blake's eyes widened before they narrowed dangerously. "How do you know _that_?!" She whispered loudly. "And keep it down. I don't want the whole of beacon to know of what I am."

"Do not worry over the matter, Miss Belladonna. No one was within hearing range to hear what I said, this includes any of the others of your kind in the room." He said, placating her slightly, before continuing. "As to how I knew… I work as an agent. I do come across some information from time to time of my own insight and research." He stood and bowed to her with respect. "While I'd like nothing more than to waste the day away and talk to you, I have some errands to run for the Headmaster. If you'll excuse me."

She nodded. "Of course, Mr. Hunter. I'll see you around, I suppose."

He walked away and she turned her attention back to her plate, eyes locking onto the fish she had been neglecting for the last few minutes. Such a sad thing to happen to a plate of tuna. Thankfully, she wasn't too particular of what temperature the fish she ate was, so she made quick work of the food, downing some coffee as well. Depositing her tray and mug, she made her way to the training hall, hoping to get her work out for the day.

**XXXGMGXXX**

She had made rather good progress with the current setting on the scenarios that the room simulated, proud that she had managed to do so without breaking too much of a sweat. As she finished another wave of enemies, she was alerted to the sound of clapping. Glancing over, she saw Artemis applauding her performance. She walked over and nodded to him. "Hello again, Mr. Hunter. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I wish to test your skills, if I may." He said, with his ever-neutral tone. "The only thing I can't quite know just by the transcripts alone is how you handle yourself, so I came to ask you and see firsthand what you can do."

Blake thought about it before nodding. "Sure. What could be the harm in it?" She looked over his person. "Do you have a weapon?"

A nod was her response as he reached his left arm behind him, an audible clang of metal sounding out as he brought his hand around, a weird diamond shaped object clinging to a strip of metal on his hand. "This is my weapon, Harmonious Dissonance." He spoke,sliding the device onto his opposite arm, the two thin, curved blades on either side sliding forward and clicking together to form a bow. "She's rather unorthodox, but from what I've read, so is your Gambol Shroud."

"Is that so?" She asked, smiling slightly. "I guess we'll see." She took a few steps back until they were a good distance apart from one another. She dropped into a ready stance, blade held at her side. The agent had his own weapon ready, the blades level with Blake's body.

With nary a verbal cue, he reached forward making a drawing motion along the diamond body of his weapon, energy jumping to life and stringing together the tips of the blades as an arrow made of the same energy flickered to life on the pulled back string. The energy was bright green and seemed to hum with power. "Flicker," He whispered, letting the arrow go. It zipped forward, the energy flickering in and out of sight as it approached.

Blake whipped to the side, sidestepping the arrow before charging at him, hoping to close in before he could notch another arrow. She went with a vertical slash, but he blocked with one of the blades that made up the bow. Using her momentum, she quickly lashed out with a chain of slashes and slices, but he managed to blocked them all, not showing any struggle in doing so. "You're not half bad."

Blocking another strike, he replied. "Thank you. I can see why you made it into Beacon, but it'll take much more than this to win the fight." He jumped back. "And if you insist on using your sword, allow me to return the favor." With a click the bow detached from the body of the weapon, falling into his hand. In a blur of motion the blades moved and clicked into place as a double bladed sword, the two curving into one another slightly as he raised it to point at her. The diamond main body of his weapon split open and folded out, revealing a cylinder inside its cavity, filled with dust.

The cat faunus was a bit unsure of what the cylinder was for, but she couldn't hesitate. Getting close again, she engaged him in a sword fight, blades clashing against one another. Neither seemed to have the advantage, the forked blade holding back the cleaver-esque one of her own. She blocked a strike from aboves, bringing her hand up to grasp the sheath. Pulling out the katana part of her weapon, she aimed a strike at his exposed torso.

He brought the core of his weapon in front of him, a field of energy springing into existence and stopping her blade short of hitting anything. "You know," He started. "You should've expected a shield. I mean, the shape should've been some sort of hint."

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "I've learned not to assume what I think anything is," She hissed. "I try to keep an open mind about such things."

Artemis shrugged. "I suppose." Rolling his shoulders, he smirked slightly. "Now, let's continue." Using the distraction of the conversation, he abruptly kicked her in the stomach, only for her to split from the kicked form, the clone disappearing from sight as Blake landed, unharmed. Blake rushed back in, now using her semblance to augment her fighting skills, but Artemis kept his ground, stopping every strike, whether by parrying a slash to the side or block another with his shield. Truth be told, he was trying to limit his blocking, as he didn't want to exhaust his dust cylinder too quickly. After a few near misses on her part, he nodded to himself. "I need to ramp things up, apparently."

He batted aside another strike, parrying the follow up before raising his hand and pointing his palm at her. In a flash of light, his aura jumped forward and Blake barely had time to block the new attack. She looked at him in wonderment. "How did you…?"

"My semblance." He stated. "I can control energy and aura and use it to protect or attack. I can even shape it into blades at times." To prove his point, his hand lit up as a blade of equal length to his original one came into view. Not speaking any further, he engaged her again, this time pushing her on the defensive, quite a few shadow clones biting the dust in face of his assault. After a while, the blade dispersed and both fighters were left panting.

Blake was bent over, breathing heavily. He had been relentless, though he seemed to be almost as tired as she. She looked up at him and smiled. "A tie?"

He nodded to her. "Yes, though I might've won, had I not used the energy blade. I know how draining it is, but this was merely a spar, so I don't believe it matters."

They put their weapons away before shaking hands, ending their match. Blake turned to the locker room, waving the agent goodbye. "I'll see you later, Artemis. Thanks for the fight."

He chuckled as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walking off. "Anytime, Miss Belladonna."

**End…**

Bonus Scene, Blake Belladonna, Artemis Jade Hunter- GateMasterGreen

See you peeps around in two weeks. Adieu for now!


	3. Chapter 3

Yo Peeps, GMG here with Chapter 3 of Converging Paths. As is probably known by the archive as a whole, we have lost the creator of RWBY, Monty Oum. This is not to say that we will not continue this story. Because he has died, I seek to work harder than ever on my RWBY fics, to honor him in my own way and that is why this chapter has been dedicated to Monty Oum. Though he may be gone, he will remain in our minds and hearts. Never before have I mourned the loss of a human whom I've never met, but that is life I suppose.

_**Disclaimer: We of the Converging Paths authorship, do not own RWBY. We are merely here to bring forth ideas inspired by the creations of a wonderful man.**_

As much as General Ironwood appreciated the convenience of having the most wanted man in Vale a couple steps away, he couldn't keep Torchwick locked up on his bridge forever. After being captured, Roman was moved down to the lower decks of the airship, into one of the few holding cells on board. It was boxy and basic. This wasn't a luxury yacht and Ironwood hadn't planned on taking any prisoners this trip.

The cell was a small ten-by-ten transparent plastic room. There were basic accommodations, meaning a small sink, a toilet, and a cot. A wide steel table and two chairs, which were bolted to the floor, and twenty-four-seven surveillance with android guards positioned outside his door.

It was very quiet down in the bowels of the floating warship, far away from the engines, which were muffled by multiple decks and layers of armor, so the door at the end of the hall was shockingly loud as it opened and General Ironwood, with his guards, stepped through.

Roman was laying down on the bed with his hands up behind his head eyes closed and feet tapping to a song playing in his head. He couldn't resist taking a jab at the approaching Atlesian. "Morning General, sorry I haven't cleaned. You should have told me you were coming."

Ironwood didn't speak as the transparent cell door slid open. He held up a remote device and pressed a button,causing the cuffs around Roman's wrists to lock together as the magnets buried within them activated, the shackles clinking lightly as they stuck. The criminal let out an angry sigh as the red and blue troopers entered and dragged him over to one of the chairs, placing his wrists on another magnet in the table and locking him in place. Ironwood sat down in front of Torchwick, placing the remote back on his belt before setting a data slate to the side of the table.

He placed his elbows on the flat stainless surface, while pressing his fingertips together before he addressed his prisoner. "I thought you'd like to know that Vale has already mobilized to go down those tunnels you've opened up and close the breaches. Almost all of the Dust you stole over the last year has been salvaged as well and returned to its rightful owners."

The crime lord sat in silence for a few seconds, then quietly laughed and grinned at Ironwood. "And why is that such a noteworthy thing, Jimmy?" Roman's voice was tired and dripping with contempt. He tried to slouch a little more in his seat while the general continued.

"It means that, very soon, nothing you've achieved will mean anything at all. Your little escapade will just be a footnote in the history books."

"You must feel so accomplished…" The criminal drawled out. "Do you smile while you look out at this miserable excuse for civilization, thinking of some grand future?"

"Well, Roman, time was on my mind, but not the future." He reached over to his scroll slid it open and began flipping through files. "I was thinking a little about your past."

Roman rolled his eyes and sighed, "I don't know what your idea is General, but-"

Ironwood interrupted him. "Know your enemy; The first rule of war. You were a soldier, so I'm sure you can appreciate that." His fingers flew across the scroll, arranging files. "Roman Torchwick, no middle name, born in downtown Vale. Alcoholic parents, both mostly unemployed. Obvious circumstances drove you out on the street where you got your first taste of the criminal underworld."

Roman laughed darkly. "Yeah, the good old days."

"Shoplifting, pickpocketing, charges of assault, allegations of involvement in armed robbery, but nothing stuck. It's amazing Vale let you serve when you enlisted once you turned eighteen."

"So what? It's not my fault those idiots had pretty low standards for who made up their cannon fodder."

Ironwood didn't even look up at his prisoner's interruption, and continued on. "You served eight years in an infantry command, got promoted to platoon sergeant, and set up an impressive blackmarket for items that your run of the mill soldiers found hard to acquire. Then the army started cleaning house and you tried to protect your… little side business."

"Are you going somewhere with this, General?" Roman inquired tiredly.

"So, they booted you out on your ass with a dishonorable discharge and let you loose on this town."

"Let me guess, this would have never happened in Atlas?"

"I'll admit you probably would have been shot, and apparently your old CO nearly did do the deed." The general stood as he continued, circling around the table and towards his prisoner. "You landed on your feet well enough, led several bank robberies, and rallied a few scattered criminals into a well run syndicate. You had a very nice piece of the pie, which is why I find it so hard to believe that you are behind these events."

"Come on, I can think big."

"No, you're a criminal. The White Fang are terrorists and revolutionaries, or protestors on a good day. Those two worlds don't mix usually." He sat down again. "I am surprised that you don't see how little you leading this makes sense. You practically abandoned your budding empire and laid it all at the disposal of a revolutionary group. My guess, someone promised you something like influence, money, or a trade."

"Business takes risk," Roman said simply, eyeing the general.

Ironwood shook his head at that answer. "Who put you up to this? What could you offer them?" Anger started seeping into his tone of voice. "What are they planning next?"

Roman leaned forward in his chair, "There is no 'they' general. I saw an opportunity and I took it. I convinced the White Fang to help _me_." Torchwhick put a lot of emphasis on that last word. "I learned a long time ago how to work with chaos."

General Ironwood, frustrated and impatient, stood again, turning to leave the cell. "I want you to consider three things," he told his prisoner. " One, I know you're lying. Two, the more you lie, the harder I am going to press you for the truth. Three, the value in keeping you is dropping every day I don't get what I am looking for." With that, Ironwood and his guards exited the cell, the door automatically closing behind them, and the general turned off the magnets restraining Torchwick before making his way to the exit.

But Roman wasn't going to let the man from Atlas have the last word.

"You're wrong, General." he called out from his cell.

Ironwood moved back to the door and stood motionless looking in. The crime lord smiled at his captor while rubbing his wrists that had gotten sore from the restraints.

"I did accomplish something." Ironwood turned his head slightly and Roman spoke, "I've shown the world how pathetic you all really are."

"Who is 'you all'? " Ironwood asked.

"Schools, military, all of the organizations that people place their faith in for protection. None of you could stop me, not without blind luck and the most hackjob action I've ever seen. The trust is gone, the paranoia is here. When I get out, I'm gonna ride this wave of change and live like a king. I won't have to do a damn thing but watch as it all falls apart."

"You are never getting out Torchwick, but are you trying to tell me something?"

"Maybe…. the White Fang will probably do as they please now, without me there holding the leash. They've got big eyes. I'm sure we both can picture what that'll lead to."

Ironwood nodded and said "Thank you for your cooperation." Perhaps finally on track, he walked away.

Roman moved back to his cot and previous position. Before he went back to sleep, he quietly muttered. "If you say so."

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

Ironwood stepped into the lift after his guards, they knew the drill and had already set their destination back to the observation deck and command station.

Ironwood thought for a moment about what his prisoner had said.

On one hand this first interview with Torchwick hadn't told him anything new. But on the other

"_the White Fang will probably do as they please now…"_

Ironwood smiled at his conclusion. He didn't need anything new; Torchwick had just reminded the general that there was something out there that he was all too familiar with..

As the doors slid open and he was momentarily blinded by the rising sun, General Ironwood gave orders to the men behind him. These two that had accompanied him down into the cellblock weren't merely around to keep him safe. They were high ranking intelligence officers, his personal assistants, and problem solvers.

He instructed the blue trooper first, "Major, compare our list of known high profile White Fang members with recent Vale tourists lists and immigration files."

"Shouldn't we still be looking for this third party sir?"

"No, they've hidden too well. We focus on the White Fang, we know how to hunt them. And when we find them, they will lead us to these others."

Ironwood next spoke to the one in red, "How does my schedule look today?"

"You have a progress meeting with the council and you were going to talk with the quartermaster who lost the paladins, but Dr. Gepetto would like to speak with you as soon as possible."

Ironwood sighed, when he began running Atlas's army he never thought he would have to start juggling so many people. It nearly made him wish for simpler days, sometimes. "Tell him to wait a minute, then we'll see what he needs for his wonder girl today." Ironwood walked to the center of the bridge, away from all of the other stations to where the holographic communications screens were always projected. "Shift course north please, let's get the sun out of our eyes."

The city of Vale moved below him, changing view from the docks and industrial zones north to the high end upper class zones. Beyond those he could see a few of the red trees of Forever Fall.

Heights always helped him get perspective on problems and usually up at greater altitudes there was nothing to distract him. So, his thoughts slowly shifted to the simmering guilt that had been eating him since the breach. Ironwood didn't want to be subverting his friend Ozpin, but he couldn't understand why the professor couldn't see how much was in jeopardy if they didn't act.

He didn't dwell long on these thoughts, he would show Ozpin that action was the way forward.

The general gestured with his gloved right hand and brought up the ship communications display. He didn't need to do anything else as his assistants connected the ship to the Vale council.

The image shimmered in static before stabilizing into an unnecessarily shadowed image of the three people who managed the highest level of government in Vale.

"General," one of the men greeted their ally.

Ironwood nodded his head forward in respect, "Council, all of our precautionary measures have been placed. And security has been improved for the festival, I have more androids on their way. But I do require some assistance with some, preventative measures."

The only woman present in this group the council spoke up, "What do you need general?"

"I am going to require some information on a certain demographic of your citizens."

"The Faunus?"

"Correct, the White Fang were instrumental in our enemy's plan and I need to find them to see if they are still planning anything."

The third voice spoke up, "We are hopeful this arrangement will greatly benefit both of our kingdoms, General. But if you become too heavy handed…"

He was interrupted by the first man who spoke, "You've always been too soft, Alazarin. We need a show of strength. The people of the world need to know we are strong."

Ironwood spoke again, "I am sorry to interrupt, but we had an agreement, you help me and I manage security for the festival. Your internal politics will have to wait."

The women finished for the council, "Of course, General, our intelligence officers will speak with yours momentarily, farewell."

The screen winked out and Ironwood closed the display before him. The general ran both of his hands back over his grey streaked hair quietly cursing the long, looming day to himself.

"General?" A man called from the elevators behind him.

Ironwood wasn't being mean when he said that the good doctor was dressed as stereotypically as possible for his position.

Drab business casual clothes, old leather loafers and a long white lab coat hugging his shoulders.

As usual he looked ready to jump out of his skin in the presence of his military backers, he was usually much more collected around his peers and helpers in the Atlas research division.

"I realize this is rather presumptuous of me, General, coming up here unannounced" The doctor continued, "But I…"

Ironwood waved his hands up, reassuring the doctor. "Not at all my friend," Ironwood placed his hand on the other man's shoulder as he guided him back to the elevator. "Why don't we skip to the part where you start talking, really fast."

If he listened closely, Bistre could still hear the echoes of gunfire fading through the hills, but it was hard to hear beneath the steady drone from the giant airship hovering over their heads and the other ground vehicles idling nearby, once the soldiers ringing the first breach had ceased fire. Dozens of riflemen still stood as close as they dared to the edge, looking for anything that could have miraculously survived the hail of lead that had swept into the tunnels after the firestorm from the artillery barrage had sputtered out.

Now the real work would begin.

He leaned down and grabbed a handful of Detective Topaz's coat and hauled him to his feet.

Topaz's hands were still pressed firmly against his ears, and he was closing his eyes as hard as he could. Bistre began to push him around the sandbags and out of the firing pit for the howitzer they had been sitting next to for the last half hour

"I told you, should have put the armor on." Darren told the detective

Topaz nearly heard him. his ears were still ringing after the full auto fulisade. He thought that the mechanically filtered voice was addressing him.

"What!?" He shouted opening his eyes but not lowering his hands.

The colonel tapped the knuckles of his left hand on the side of his gun metal gray T-slit helmet.

Topaz nodded in understanding, his hearing finally returning to normal. "Yes, well, twenty-twenty hindsight, I'm afraid, my friend."

Once Topaz had Bistre had returned to the Vale airship, the colonel had tried to explain to the detective, who had never been very far outside of the city, what exactly they were going to be doing.

Of course, this was after their meeting with the headmaster of Beacon when there had only been several recon flyovers along the route of destruction the would-be revolutionaries had left in the countryside between Vale and Mountain Glenn.

Topaz had been offered a standard issue suit of armor, but he had politely refused, quipping about fashion and the irrelevance of him wearing it with so many strapping young folk around for his safety.

Which had only earned him a few less than quiet groans and backs turned on him.

The two men stepped around the soldiers, fixing rappelling points into the ground and throwing the attached cables and ropes down into the dark old subway line below them as a tank was being winched down from an airship hovering overhead.

The plan was simple enough, establish bastions at each of the holes and flush out all of the Grimm that may still be loitering inside before the roofs of the tunnels were fixed and buried once again.

The creatures had thought to swarm en masse into the city but became trapped after their exit was sealed off, and no with no way to climb out the monsters were exploring their new domain.

And that had raised more than a few eyebrows with the jumpy council.

The army could have collapsed the tunnels with a few surgical airstrikes, but that would just open up more routes into the city..

And the creatures of Grimm were exceptional diggers. All the higher ups planning their little safari outside the safety of civilization wanted to return the tunnels to their previous state which had so far worked exceptionally without any outside interference.

"Time is of the essence Colonel. How long before I can begin my survey?" Topaz questioned.

Aside from providing excellent noise protection, the faceless mirrored helmets all of the soldiers contained their own silent radio frequencies. They could talk to each other and hear orders and to anyone not tuned in with them it would appear they all worked in complete silence.

Topaz had gathered this of course, so he waited patiently while the force organized itself and ignored him.

After the colonel had finished waving his arm around pointing to various groups and the hole he turned back to Topaz.

"Don't get too excited. Gonna be almost dark before I'm satisfied this first site is secure enough."

"Are you certain? Perhaps I may be of assistance?" The detective offered, trying to help out.

"As what, bait?"

Topaz didn't have a response to that suggestion. Silently and with a sudden shiver of fear he stepped away from the soldier whose decency and sanity he was beginning to question.

"Relax man." Bistre said slapping him good naturedly on the shoulder. "Hang back at the airship." He nodded his head towards another giant plane a few meters away, disgorging more armored vehicles and troops from its hold. "We'll introduce you to your bodyguards in a minute." the colonel finished off as he moved forward to stand beside his officers surveying the progress being made down in the tunnels.

The tank below was putting the steel plow on it's front to good use, pushing fallen blocks and twisted rebar aside to make room for the riflemen to stand watch. Topaz was still curious about their work and had not quietly gone to his corner like a schoolboy who was just getting in the stepped into a vacant spot next to the colonel, left by an officer that had just grabbed onto a rappelling line and slid down into the darkness.

"You all will be able to handle this, won't you?" Topaz asked the soldiers he had placed himself next to.

"You afraid of the dark, city boy?" One of them asked in an aggressive tone.

"Only what lives in it, my good sir."

The soldiers and their commanding officer all erupted in wolfish laughter. Topaz shifted uncomfortably, perceiving their disregard for humanity's ancient enemies as fatal overconfidence.

Bistre once again laid his hand on the shoulder of Topaz, with much more force and a stronger grip this time.

"You people have always underestimated us." The colonel said as he began to pull the smaller man over to where the detective had been told to go.

"It's not that," Topaz tried to correct "I just fear that you may be…"

Bistre squeezed the detective's shoulder even harder "Believe me, I'm not. We're not flashy, we're not the ones who all the stories really get written about, but we get jobs done."

"I'm sure you do, Colonel. Forgive me, I meant no offense."

"Don't worry about that," Bister said after finishing their little walk to the airship in silence. The cargo hold was empty and echoing aside from a heavy six wheeled passenger vehicle and five soldiers staring at the two men down on the ramp.

Colonel Bistre pushed Detective Topaz down to sit on one of the seats lining the walls along the airship.

"Now," the military man began once again, "Sit down, shut up and stay put."

Topaz did, quietly and extremely still before another roar of gunfire and explosions made him flinch as the second battle for the tunnels began far below his feet.

**End…**

The totality of this chapter was worked on by Darkerpaths, ShadowCinder33, and edited by GateMasterGreen.

This chapter is dedicated to Monty Oum. May he rest in peace.

_Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable. -RWBY White Trailer_

_Your hopes have become my burden, I will find my own liberation. -RWBY Black Trailer._

_Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided, and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark's beauty is greater than its would be judgement. -RWBY Yellow Trailer._

"_Guys… Life… it's pretty awesome. Just keep at it. And I'll keep going too." -Monty Oum_

When we lose the life of someone we never knew, the repercussion can be just the same as if we had lost someone close to us. We don't have to know them for their lives to influence our own. Life has brought us all so much, which is why we must treasure even those who have gone.

To honor Monty, the story will go on. The next chapter WILL be out in two weeks. We will keep fighting the good fight, so Monty can live on through us.

This is GateMasterGreen, Signing off.

Though, Darkerpaths has something to add, from another great human who left this world not so long ago.

"_Please, don't worry so much, because in the end none of us have very long on this earth - life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when the stars are strung across the velvety night, and when a shooting star streaks through the blackness turning night into day, make a wish and think of me. Make your life spectacular. I know I did." -Robin Williams. 1951-2014 ( Film Jack 1996)_


	4. Chapter 4

Yo Peeps, GMG here with chapter four of Converging Paths. There's a slight change in plans for chapters, so I do apologize before hand. I will run through the chapters again myself, including the next ones, before making a short list to explain the timeline and when each one occurs. The next three, should be a bit easier as they are planned to go back-to-back building off of this one and should be a smooth timeline. Also, while still in discussion, I have put forward the idea with them to perhaps release the next two chapters within the next two weeks, since we are a bit ahead of schedule. So, while not likely, there's a chance of a chapter next monday. Enjoy the show.

_**Disclaimer: We, the writers of Converging Paths, do not own RWBY.**_

"Don't do it, Sun."

"You can keep your opinions to yourself, Neptune my friend," came an irritated voice.

"Remember what happened last time."

"That was then, this is now."

"And Ruby is still playing Mistral," the first voice pointed out.

The second voice sighed. "Your point?"

"Trap cards, bro."

Sun moaned leaning back in his chair, nearly throwing his hand of cards away in frustration. Neptune shuffled the ones his friend had for a moment before making a suggestion. "Or you go for Velvet."

"What? Did I do something?" The rabbit Faunus asked, looking up from the rule book she had been browsing to try and get a grip on all the nuances of the game.

"Just ignore them," Ruby told her, smiling. "They're just planning how they are going to get slaughtered."

"Don't count us out just yet," Neptune said, while browsing through his cards, looking for anything he could use to get himself out of the crap he knew was about come down on his head.

"One of us has to go eventually," Sun pointed out, his tail flicking lightly in annoyance.

"And you're the one who has the initiative," Ruby countered, growing impatient and crossing her arms childishly. "Get a move on, already,."

"Ahhgg, so many options and stuff," groaned Sun. "I don't know what to do."

"Go for Neptune then," She suggested. "Vale is right there in the middle waiting to be taken."

Neptune straightened up in his seat and threw his hands up in protest. "Come on, we're brothers in arms, don't you do it."

The monkey faunus grinned mischievously at his best friend. "I don't know, Neptune. It's super tempting."

"No, dude. Don't," the intellectual pleaded. "Bro Code of Honor, man."

Sun snickered and chose a card. "I'm gonna do it."

Neptune shook his head. "Don't, man."

The faunus placed the card down. "I'm doing it."

"No!"

"I'll attack Vale with the Atlas Airborne Corp." Sun declared suddenly, pointing at his blue haired friend with a huge grin. "Now say your prayers."

"Wait," Velvet chimed in, raising up a hand and placing the guide book on the table. "Neptune has defenses there, you have to roll for…"

Neptune sighed and waved her off. "It's fine." He turned to Sun, no longer looking fearful. "Besides, I have traps too. Valiant Valkyries activates in response to your attack."

Sun raised his eyebrows in suspicion. "I call BS."

"I have them right here, look." The blue-haired teen motioned to his artillery forces.

"From where you put all your stuff on the border with Vacuo and Velvet!"

"That's the beauty of artillery: range, bro." Neptune grinned and leaned back in his chair.

Ruby looked at him in awe of his master stroke. "The special ability of Vale's forces. They get range bonuses on any territory occupied by Vale forces. While not a trap card, it allows him to defend from afar."

"I'm a bit confused," said Velvet, her accent pulling at her words. "How does it work?"

"It's called a reaction effect. Due to the range requirements being fulfilled, Neptune's forces can bolster his defences even if they wouldn't normally be able to," explained the youngest teen at the table. "Sun basically walked into the lion's den, thinking he had the upper hand, while Neptune just laid the bait out for him to take."

"Yup," quipped the blue haired teen. "Your forces have been outgunned, Sun. I win this round,"

Sun slammed his head down. "Screw this, man. Why do you guys even like this game!?"

Ruby shrugged. "It's fun?"

"And intellectually challenging," Neptune concurred, throwing in his two cents.

Sun pushed his chair back, standing to leave, but before he left the table, Velvet laid the book in front of his side of the board and pointed to a section of text. "What's this for?" Sun asked.

"Just read it," Velvet said, gesturing to the book again.

Across the room in the library, a few others were looking for answers to their own predicaments.

"Why are we even here if it's a four player game?" Blake asked, golden eyes rolling from the stupidity of the situation. "Are we just going to sit here and watch them make fools of themselves?"

"Aw, come on Blake-y," Yang said. "You're just upset that you can't play. Besides, Team JNPR seem to be doing fine."

Off to the side, the four were pretty much doing what they had during the last session of the game. Except the two sets of partners seemed a bit more close than before, especially Jaune and Pyrrha. Sure, they had their books out to study, but they were chit chatting back and forth, the blonde hunter-in-training seemingly starting to listen to Pyrrha for once and give her his full attention.

At least, that was what Weiss hoped. She didn't want to be bothered with tall, blonde, and scraggly at the moment.

The ebony haired member of RWBY sighed lightly, shaking her head at Yang's attempts to get a rise out of her. "I'm frankly not in the mood, Yang. I'd rather we be doing something with our time than playing games." She almost regretted saying that as she saw the grin on her partner's face.

"Is that your way of asking for some time alone with me?" Prodded Yang, lilac eyes glinting mischievously. "You should know I don't do things until after a few dates, Blake." She made a clawing motion at the faunus. "But I like the feistiness. Meow."

Blake's hand shot forward, snagging Yang's collar and pulling the girl closer. "I swear to Dust, Yang. I will kick your blonde ass to Patch and back, if you don't stop."

The brawler rolled her eyes and pushed her partner's hand away. "Oh please, Blake. I was just joking. You didn't need to blow your top off. Sheesh."

Their brief exchange was cut short as Sun jumped up and a stream of cussing erupted in an incoherent string of words as he stomped away from the table, accompanied by Neptune laughing his ass off as his team leader left.

Velvet called after the other Faunus, "I was trying to help!"

The monkey faunus walked back he turned to Velvet. "Thanks for trying." Then glared daggers at Ruby and Neptune. "Screw you two." Cracking his knuckles, he looked at the board with a glower. "AND SCREW THIS GAME!" In a swift motion, he hooked his fingers under the table and with a grunt of effort, heaved it clean into the air, sending figurines and dice flying over the group's head.

Neptune leaned over to whisper to Ruby. "I think he's a sore loser."

Ruby blinked in surprise. "My game!" She cried, mourning the loss of her pastime.

Yang grinned, turning to Blake. "Being a table, I've had my fair _chair _of tussles!" The blonde joked, her tone frantic and rushed, like the certain bespectacled professor she was quoting and mocking.

Others nearby heard the traditional Xiao Long joking style and groaned in disapprovement and disgust.

"Damn it bar-" Started Nora, before catching herself. "I mean Yang!"

Even Weiss giggled a little bit. "I guess you could say-"

Blake shot up and used her semblance to appear right in front of Weiss, slapping her hand over the heiress' mouth. "Or you could not," she grumbled. "Yang is enough to deal with."

Everyone looked over to the thrown table, slightly unnerved by what Sun had done.

Neptune crossed his arms and glared. "Or just excuse yourself next time you decide to spaz out, bro."

None of them caught Sun's angrily muttered response as he made his way out of the library, muttering about smart ass friends.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

It was getting very late, the sun having sunk below the horizon several hours ago. Everyone else in RWBY's dorm, and probably the school, had probably gone to sleep already, but Ruby was sitting up on her bed, contemplating all of the recent events.

From the train incident and the battle in town, to the info Yang had passed on to her about Raven and this mysterious girl's connections to the two sisters' uncle, Qrow. In all, the situation bothered Ruby and she was unsure of how to handle it for her team. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was approaching midnight and she sighed. Hopping off of her bunk, she landed silently and snuck over to the door to exit.

"Why are you still awake, Ruby?" A soft voice called, causing the young leader to freeze. Turning about, she saw that it was only Blake. Nothing really ever happened in the dorm without the faunus' sensitive hearing picking it up.

A sheepish smile crossed over Ruby's face as she quietly explained herself so she wouldn't disturb Weiss or Yang "I couldn't sleep, so I thought a walk might help."

The cat faunus nodded, understanding. "Alright, just be careful."

"Sure thing," Ruby whispered. "Be back in a bit. Night, Blake."

Stepping out of the room, she quickly padded down the hallway and towards the staircase that lead down to the second floor, but continued to the first. The descent slipped by quickly in her mind and she was soon outside and walking along the paths around the school. Unknowingly her feet led her to the wing of the academy that was housing the guest students from Haven. As she walked along, she heard quiet murmuring. While not one to eavesdrop maliciously, she found herself a bit curious.

Following the voices, she crept closer, cloak scraping against the shrubbery that lined the path. Footsteps became audible as the voices grew closer, much to Ruby's panic. She didn't know who this was and she was breaking curfew. It might have been teachers for all she knew.

Without a second thought, she jumped into one of the bushes beside her. Soon, she heard the first coherent sentence from the group. "Why are you okay with what happened? Roman failed miserably,he didn't even do what you asked."

_Roman? _Ruby thought to herself. She only knew one person with that name, her curiosity spiking even further.

A new voice spoke, this one male. "I agree, it was too soon. Why say it was a victory?"

"Like with Roman," A third voice began. "I'll let you know, should it become necessary. I can't put all my eggs in one basket, now can I?"

The first voice countered. "But, Cin-"

"But nothing" The third voice cut in. "You know your part and it isn't as my strategist. I know where I want my pieces and when. Besides, we shouldn't be talking about this here. Someone might hear us."

Ruby's eyes went wide. Had they known she was there? She froze and tried to slow her breathing, not wanting to make any sound. She didn't have a good chance, should they find her. First of all, she didn't have her weapon (so a fight would be absolute hell for her) and secondly, she was outnumbered.

How had they known about Torchwick? One of them talked like they had some part in planning the Breach.

It sounded like they were Roman's higher ups, from what she had gathered. It seemed that they were the ones who held his leash. And here they were.

Right here. At Beacon.

Fortunately, their footsteps receded into the distance and she soon was able to exit her leafy cover. All thoughts of a peaceful walk were gone, she needed to share this information with her team. Not wanting to take the risk at the moment, a tactical retreat was in order. Turning, she headed back to her dorm.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

The youngest member of RWBY had stayed up all night, unable to sleep with the new info she was still chewing over. Even without classes, their alarm had gone off, waking the three remaining members of the team. Yang was the first to respond, groaning loudly before sitting up groggily. "Why can't we just blow up the school or something? I'm sure they'd call it as an accident."

"I'm pretty sure they'd know it was you, Yang." Weiss grouched. "But I do agree with the sentiment."

Blake stretched, very catlike if you asked Ruby, before she too joined the conversation. "We don't even have classes today. We're going back tomorrow."

The blonde brawler flopped back on her pillow. "Then why are we awake?!"

Ruby blew her whistle, causing the others to jump. "Alright, Team RWBY! Today's first order of business is a team meeting."

Wearily, the team all sat down together and turned to Ruby. Blake was the first to speak. "About what, Ruby?"

"You know how we got swept up in the train thing?" At their nods, she continued. "Well, I heard some talk from some students about it. I was a bit hurried in hiding, so I was kind of face down in a bush and couldn't see them, but I heard them. Roman's plan is just part of a much larger scheme."

"Well, we figured that," Yang countered her sister. "But what did you hear last night exactly?"

Ruby ran through what she had heard one more time. "And you know there was someone with Torchwick the first night I saw him."

"Yes, that lady you said," Yang replied.

"And then there was the intruder the night of the dance who we figured was the same person."

"Uh-huh…"

"Its not too far fetched to think that they may be hiding here."

Weiss eyed her partner. "And what do you suggest we do, dolt? I doubt we can interrogate random students until we find them."

"Maybe they left behind evidence." Proposed Blake. "We could try to examine the tunnels and go from there."

Yang slammed her fists together. "Aw yeah! We got a plan!"

The resident ice queen merely scoffed. "As if, Yang. You saw what Professor Goodwitch did. We can't even get in the tunnels from the town and I don't think that we can easily head back to Mt. Glenn.

"Maybe we could take it up with Ozpin." Blake said. "He helped us with the mission board. Perhaps he'd do something similar in this case."

"You're talking about a one-time occurrence, Blake!" Weiss countered. "He might not and we can't just sit around hoping for a miracle."

Ruby looked between the two and shrugged. "It could go either way."

"So we ask anyways." Exclaimed Yang. "Then the whole thing'll be all cut and dry. _Weiss _this such an issue, girls?"

The cat faunus pinched her brow in frustration. She, no, the team didn't need the distraction. "Let's just ask him and get it over with."

"Yeah!" Ruby said. "Now, let's go!" She pumped her fist in the air. "Banzai!"

Yang and Blake chorused back in sync. "Banzai!"

Weiss shook her head. "Fine. Can we just stop this childishness?"

Ruby and Yang pondered this before both telling the heiress, "Nope."

"Of course it'd be you two to say it. At least Blake has a semblance of self control."

The blonde of their team snorted. "Semblance? Nice one, Weiss."

The heiress scowled. "You insufferable brute!"

Ruby giggled before jumping up. "Onward!"

**End…**

Board Game Section, Idea for Format, Edits: De4thstopper.

Other Sections, Ruby, Blake, Edits and Formats: GateMasterGreen.

Founder of Story: PeoplexLikexGrapes

Others: ShadowCinder33 and Darkerpaths.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It's a nice little break away from the OCs and De4th thought you would enjoy that. This was thrown together at the last moment and took us a few days to finish up, so I apologize if it seems rushed. Anywho, other news! WE HAVE SHIPPINGS PLANNED! WOOOOOOOOOO! Yus…

All kidding aside, we do have two ships in mind so far. One is already approved and the other needs one more vote out of the five of us. With that said, We'll be seeing y'all around. Adieu!


	5. Chapter 5

Yo Peeps, GMG here with the next chapter of this lovely fic. With a bit of deliberation, we did decide to post a chapter a week early for your lovely faces to enjoy. This is immediately after the previous chapter, so little confusion should be present. Fun fact: The last chapter, minus the board game section, used to be part of this chapter. I think the whole chapter ended up being 8k words the first time we went through it, though we did a bit to cut it down to size. I hope you all enjoy.

_**Disclaimer: RWBY does not belong to the staff of writers behind Converging Paths. This I swear.**_

(**Ozpin's Office**)

Ozpin sipped his coffee. He'd been doing that a lot recently, more so than usual in fact. In times like these, he had much to think about, and there were few pleasures for him to indulge in. But as long as he had his coffee, his beautiful caffeinated oily black beverage, he figured he'd be okay. That every little thing would be alright. He sighed with content, enjoying the momentary peace that his mind deserved. '_If only everyday were as calm and soothing as this..._' he thought happily.

Then, just like a flipping a switch, Ozpin returned to his initial ponderings. It was only yesterday that he had met with his contacts. It was also later today that he would expect them to investigate the sealed tunnels to Mount Glenn. The army was already setting up at the hole closest to the city. He had confidence in his plans so far; he was sure that he had picked a good group of people for the task and that they would dig up some valuable information about the White Fang. But no plan goes without it's doubts and this was no exception. He switched his attention back to his scroll, looking over what information he had on the men he had enlisted.

Artemis Jade Hunter: The Operative. '_Artemis has grown to be quite capable at what he does; I can vouch for him personally. I have assigned him roles that are both close to home and further afield, and I am confident that he will play his part well. He has a very professional attitude for this task, of which I am thankful for, but my only concern is that he may get a little irritated at his fellows, of whom he hasn't had the finest start with..._'

He then swiped across to the next candidate. Colonel Darren Bistre: The Commander. '_In the years that I have known the Colonel, he has grown to be a dependable ally and friend. He has the resources and manpower to act should anything on the scale of the breach happen again. Moreover, he is a family man, and with some of his own to protect, I know he will take this seriously. But like all military men, he can be rash and would not like a repeat of that Faunus protest from a few years ago._'

He made one final swipe and observed the file before him. Detective Bill Topaz: The Elementary. '_Topaz is the one that I know about least. When I met him for the first time yesterday, he proved his abilities to us, even impressing Darren a little, which is no small feat. I have no doubt that he will prove useful, but the Chief Constable brought up some things to take note of. By all accounts, the Detective can be somewhat difficult to manage; I believe the words 'socially hopeless' and 'idiotic buffoon' were used..._'"

He stopped. Noises could be heard from the other side of his office door. Making himself as quiet as possible, he tried to make out what the conversation was yielding.

"So, now that we're here, how are we going to explain this?" Began one voice, sounding unsure.

"You mean you didn't even think about it on our way here?" Asked another voice, seeming a bit annoyed with the situation.

"Well it was Blake's idea…" The first voice once again.

"Yeah, but _you're _the team leader, so _you _should speak for us." Came the counter.

There was a barely audible grumble. "If you two would both stop, we could get this over with."

A fourth voice made itself known, louder than the others. "Why not just wing it? Its not like there's much to it," They reasoned. "We go in, ask, and get it done and be on our merry way."

There was a jolt of sound as the door was swung open and Ozpin watched with little surprise as Yang strolled in, disregarding the nasty glare from Weiss and the shocked expression of Ruby. The blonde gave the headmaster a respectful bow, a bit of a stretch for the brawler's personality, but what came out her mouth settled the matter. "Hey, Professor Ozzie!"

Ozpin refrained from the amused smile that pulled at his features. "Hello, Miss Xiao Long. Might I ask why you and your teammates have made a sudden appearance?" He gave a slightly mischievous glance at the four. "I truly doubt that this was merely a social call. I rarely get visiting students."

Weiss stepped forward and curtsied politely. "I apologize, Professor, for Yang's insensitive manner and disregard for general etiquette. We of Team RWBY merely wished to ask something."

"Oh?" A slightly curious expression became apparent on his features. "And what would that be, Miss Schnee?"

"If it wasn't an issue…" Started Ruby, causing Ozpin's eyes to shift to her. "I, well we, were wanting to request… ask, if you might, not that I'm saying you would, but perhaps-"

"Perhaps I'd know what you were asking if you spoke clearer, Miss Rose." The man spoke sagely, with a glint of amusement in his eyes. "You'll find that it helps not to mince words and get straight to the point."

"Could we go explore the tunnels?" The caped girl blurted out, before looking down.

Blake interjected. "Seeing as how it directly affected our mission with Professor Oobleck, we'd like to look into the situation further and see if we could glean anything of interest from the scene of the crime, as it were."

The professor figured that the girls would want to have further involvement against the White Fang; it didn't take him long after first meeting them to deduce their interest that had come to be when it came to the group. He supposed it may have to do with Blake's faunus nature and what implications it may have with her past. Sighing to himself, he let his mind drift back to the cafè meeting with his cohorts. They too would be going to the tunnels today.

'_Yes, that would work._' Nodding to himself, he took a sip from his ever present mug before speaking. "I see. If I may ask, is that truly why you wish to go?"

Blake nodded. "Yes, sir. It would put our team more at ease to know what else was going on during that mission."

The silver haired man shifted his gaze to Ruby. "And you, Miss Rose? Do you agree with Blake's explanation?"

"Yes." The reply was short, but her eyes showed determination. He could see that she wanted to go through with this.

Smiling lightly, he spoke. "Very well then. Go if you must, but please be careful. The tunnels are still packed with Grimm."

Ruby gave him a childish salute. "You got it, sir!"

With that, the team left.

"I think we forgot one thing," Weiss told her teammates as they exited the office and all crowded into the elevator that ran up the tower.

Yang turned to the smaller girl, "What?"

"How are we supposed to get there?" She questioned, thinking of the long distance out to both Mountain Glenn and the old train tunnels.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang quickly looked between each other, the heiress had a point. None of them had thought this far.

"We could take an airship?" Ruby offered.

"Can any of us fly?" Weiss asked

"Or a Nevermore." Ruby continued.

"NO!"

"Well, we could just head down to the city." Blake suggested. "It's not uncommon for students to visit Vale. If they ask us anything, we just tell them that we had some stuff to pick up.

Weiss shook her head. "Getting to Vale isn't a problem," Said the heiress. "The real problem is how we're supposed to get into the tunnels."

Ruby shrugged. "Well, they only fixed the main hole, right? If we go through the subway system, we might find somewhere else to enter."

Blake nodded. "That's true. Past any of the breaches, though, there's bound to be plenty of Grimm."

Yang grinned. "That just makes it more exciting! I think we have our plan!"

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

**At The Site Of The Breach**

There were only two things not really normal about the town square, it was practically deserted aside from the four of them standing there. At this time of day there would have been some sort of crowd loitering around minding their own business.

But there was not a soul in sight, just empty space.

Also there was a small collection of objects well-meaning citizens had left to commemorate the near tragedy and those who had been injured. People usually made impromptu shrines of such sort to remind anyone walking by what had happened on this ground.

Team RWBY, however, were looking for a way back into the origin of the whole escapade.

Weiss huffed. "It's all sealed up. I don't see why we came out here, as it's a dead end."

"Because it's not." Said Ruby, voice lacking the usual childish tone. "There are still cracks in the walls. It supports the idea I had. We just need to get to one of the subways and head down." She turned to her team. "Let's get going."

After a small bit of walking, the four girls made their way to one of the many train stations that ran below Vale, unsurprisingly sealed off by the police force. Rather than try and reason with the officers, they snuck past them and delved into the dark of the subway. The stairs led down to the usually bustling ramp where everyone awaited there train, now empty and cold.

No sound came from the tunnels that the tracks stretched off into, but that did little to ease their worries. It was quiet, unusually so. Ruby pulled out a small LED flashlight out and clicked it on. "Okay girls… which way?"

"Left," Yang offered, walking into the dark.

"Why's that?" Ruby called after her big sister.

"No reason…" Slowly Yang disappeared into the shadows, her glowing blond hair the only noticeable part of her silhouette outside Ruby's handheld light.

"It's also roughly the same direction as the breach." Pointed out Blake, following her partner.

The other two girls glanced at each other before jogging to catch up with the blonde brawler.

As they went down the tunnel, their minds were on high alert for anything to happen and a mood of imminent doom rested over their heads. Further along, they found a pair of doors. Yang had kicked them, in an attempt to open them, but they wouldn't budge. Grabbing a handle on one, she yanked it with all of her strength, ripping it from the door and revealing concrete underneath. "They must've sealed all the doors."

Still Blake meticulously checked out each of the heavily rusted doors on the south side of the tunnel. She reasoned that at least one of them would hold the entryway they needed. Knocking on each door, the Faunus listened for the solid sound that would mark it as sealed. After a few more doors, she began to lose hope. The people who did it made sure to really seal it tight. And given what happened before, securing the perimeter would make sense.

"I don't think we're going to find a way in," said Blake. "The doors are sealed, most likely all of them."

Ruby pointed her flashlight at another one. "What about that one?" The rusted metal was wrenched from its original position, scraps lying on the ground around the ruined doorway. Beyond the frame was the shattered remains of cement, chunks strewn haphazardly in the hallway beyond. A heavy layer of dust lay on the ground.

Stepping inside, Yang glanced around at the wreckage before stopping. "Um, girls?"

"What's wrong?" Asked Blake, concerned about what it might be.

Yang looked down before turning to look at them. "There shouldn't be footsteps in here, right?"

Ruby shook her head. "No…"

The heiress walked in behind Yang and looked at the bootprints. "One set, male, most likely a Hunter with the same idea that we had."

Blake looked at the two. "Well, we can't turn back now."

Despite the shoe prints, they pressed on. Following the prints into another set of tunnels. The further in that they got, the more they noticed a sound. It had started low, but now the growling could be made out. There were Grimm nearby. Rounding a corner, they were surprised as a flash of green lit up the dark tunnel and a loud cry came in the shadows.

In another series of flashes, Ruby could make out a man shooting glowing arrows at the Grimm around him. He was garbed in a trenchcoat, a pair of shades hanging off the collar of his green shirt. His bright green eyes were narrowed as he took aim and shot down one Grimm after another from the scarab-like vambrace/bow on his arm. The speed of the shots were amazing and all hit dead on, instantly killing whatever target it had been chosen for. Within seconds, all the Grimm were dead and silenced reigned in the darkness.

The girls looked around, Ruby's light trying to find the man. "Looking for me?" They jumped, the light turning to reveal the Hunter, black shades now over his eyes. "Glad I put them back on."

Weiss glared at him. "Who are you? Why are you here?"

The man bowed. "Name's Artemis. Why am I here?" He shrugged. "I can't really tell you that."

"And why not?" Inquired Blake.

Artemis smirked. "I was asked not to tell. Client confidentiality is important, Miss Belladonna."

"How did you know my name?" The faunus asked, a bit concerned that he knew who she was.

The agent chuckled slightly. "I would have hope our spar from earlier would've stuck with you."

Golden eyes went wide. "That was you?" At his nod, she relaxed. "So…You were hired by Ozpin, right?"

"Glad you remembered," he replied. "Yes."

Ruby looked at him, curiosity in her silver eyes. "Why did he send you here?"

Artemis sighed. "Still can't say. Why are you here?"

Blake answered. "We came to investigate the tunnels from the breach. Our team was on the mission that lead up to that."

"Alright, I'll tell you what. Keep an eye out for two others." The agent said. "Knowing what I have gathered about Bistre, the man is likely to storm the tunnels from the entrance. He seems to lack all reasonable levels of tact. He'll be the guy with an army behind him, if you get my meaning."

Ruby nodded. "What about the other one?"

"No idea," he said honestly. "I didn't have much time to look into him, but he seems a bit eccentric. Looks like an old Sherlock Holmes novel come to life, speaks fancy. His name is Bill Topaz and he's a detective." He suppressed a groan. "A real oddball, that one."

"Sorry old boy, I didn't quite catch that," came a new voice from the shadows on the edge of the light. "My hearing may have been slightly compromised in Bistre's initial cleansing."

"Speak of the devil," muttered Artemis. "And so shall he appear."

The detective walked over a pile of rocks that had fallen from the ceiling, approaching from amidst the maze of twisted metal that had once been the train that Torchwick and the White Fang had commandeered.

Blake glanced between the two of them, amber eyes flashing with amusement. "I take it you know each other?"

Before anyone else could respond, Topaz's gaze locked onto Blake, like a missile to it's target. "By the Gods, do my eyes decieve me?!"

The four girls took a few steps backwards, confused and worried by the eccentric detective's sudden shift in focus.

He stepped closer in a shocked and cautious fashion. "Could it be? A _Cat-Fauna_?"

Blake narrowed her eyes at him. "You two," she motioned at Artemis and Topaz. "Seem to be quite well informed of what I am." She regarded both with suspicion. "How come?"

Artemis shrugged. "I think the detective might agree, when I say 'deductive reasoning' as my answer."

"Indeed good sir!" The detective exclaimed in a tone much higher than before, "You see, should one observe this woman's scalp, the bow upon her head moves but a fraction when she is agitated, ultimately suggesting a pair of animalistic ears, or a magic bow. My reasoning would suggest the former being most likely..."

Ruby's face scrunched up in confusion. "Say what?"

Artemis sighed. "Basically… The bow twitches without reason, she has cat-like traits, and her eyes are quite angled like the feline from which she gets her faunus status from. How she moves and how she looks both scream 'cat' to someone willing to take the time and notice."

"Aptly put, Master Artemis...!" Topaz began.

"I thought I asked you not to call me that," The agent cut in, looking slightly annoyed.

The detective hesitated for a moment. "Ah, yes… apologies." Then he carried on. "Another thing that you may have missed is the ever slight scent of… What does one call it…?"

Yang cracked a smile as the detective was looking for the right word. "Catnip? I mean, I know Blake is part cat," she nudged her partner. "But to do catnip?" She winked in jest at the cat faunus. "You're better than that Blake."

"Hmmm… I'm afraid I would think otherwise, my dear. I believe the word I was looking for was _Kitty Litter_. You were awfully close though. A detective in training, perhaps?"

Weiss snorted at that. "As if. The brute over there would sooner crack a joke than a case."

Yang chuckled, feigning pain. "Ah, Weiss, you wound me so!"

"Can we get back on topic," asked the faunus in mild irritation. "Why are you two down here?" Again she directed her gaze at the two newcomers.

Artemis shrugged. "Again, I say, I'm not allowed to say. I have a contract." He pointed at Topaz. "No such contract exists for him, though."

"On the contrary, my young accomplice, as a Detective of the Vale Police Department, I am sworn to hide certain details to cases from the public eye. These young ladies included I'm afraid."

Cue the confused look of one caped fighter once more. "What?"

"He won't tell you," said Artemis. "And I can't. You already learned who I work for, but to get the information you want, you need to figure it out yourself."

The heiress looked a bit frustrated. "You two are irritating me with all your head games. Couldn't you speak without all the cryptic details sewn in?"

The Hunter looked between them, smiling lightly. "Afraid not." A slight tremor made him pause, followed by another larger one. Turning to Topaz, he frowned. "How far is the Colonel, because we only left a short while ago."

"Well," Topaz slipped his hand into his left jacket pocket, pulling out his trademark pocket watch, "It seems that unless his soldiers have super-speed semblances, hardly as close as that…"

"I was afraid that would be the case." The agent pulled out his scroll, flipping through the screen at a fast pace before maximizing a page. "These tremors aren't natural either." The ground shook again. "The seismograph near here is picking up a constant rhythm to the whole thing. This is man made." The rocky ceiling above cracked loudly. "Well, fudge all kinds of duck."

"Fudge all what-!?" Ruby didn't get to finish her sentence, as the agent slipped his scroll away and pushed Ruby away with his leg.

"Scatter!" He exclaimed, and grabbed Yang and Weiss by their collars before jumping to the side. The sound of breaking rock soon followed shortly, and the roof suddenly caved in.

Blake reacted quickly too, tackling the detective away from the rubble and landing a safe distance away from the collapsed debris. "Are you okay?"

Topaz retrieved his fallen cap and covered his short black hair. "Quite fine old girl, though I have you to thank, of course." With that he made a short bow, signifying his appreciation and respect.

(The cat faunus hesitated; she found his reaction unusual to say the least, let alone a little disturbing.) "We need to find a way out of here," Blake said, glancing around. "There's no telling what is down here with us.

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

Artemis helped the girls up while looking back at the wreckage of stone. "This wasn't the plan at all." He froze at the metallic clicks behind him he recognized as safeties on firearms disengaging. Four if his hearing hadn't failed him.

Ruby tugged on the older man's arm, trying to turn him around to talk to the four armed troopers pointing their guns at her team "Um, Artemis? There are some guys here and they've got guns and don't look to nice." Her pace of speech started picking up as she grew a bit nervous. "Are they friendly? I hope they're friendly." She waved at them cautiously. "Please don't shoot us."

Yang spoke, holding up her hands trying to appear harmless, "We're from Beacon, guys. No need to be so threatening."

The slightly shorter soldier standing in front of the others turned, pointing the flashlight next to the oversize suppressor extension on the end of their weapon right in Yang's face making her squint at the bright light. "You're a little young aren't you?" The electronically filtered, but surprisingly feminine, voice asked.

Artemis's eyes swept over the soldier's figure in a cursory glance, reaffirming his suspicions. A few slight curves and other distinguishing features solidifying his theory of the soldiers gender. "If I may, Ma'am…

"Sergeant, please…" She interrupted him.

"Sergeant," he corrected himself. "These three are part of Beacon's Team RWBY. They were helping me with a little project I was given by the Headmaster himself. I'm sorry if there was an issue with this."

"Fun fact, I don't work for him." She interrupted again with no small amount of anger in her tone. "This is a restricted area and a free fire zone to boot. Do I need to clarify myself when that implies you shouldn't be here?

He had to chuckle at that. "Would I be correct in assuming you work for Bistre, though?"

The sergeant was silent, but Artemis saw her shift uncomfortably at mentioning her superior's name. "So, I am correct." He looked between the four armored soldiers, trying to figure out how to verify what his next statement would be, without being riddled with bullet holes. "Perhaps, you could, I don't know, contact him. He was informed about this little excursion too, if my memory is correct."

Ruby and Weiss had been silently shuffling back to stand further behind the huntsman and Yang, not fearful, but smart enough to place the two of them that might have more of a chance of surviving a violent exchange in front of them.

"We were just supposed to take a VIP down here to look around. The boss didn't mention anything about hunters."

'Well he should have," Artemis countered. "Now if you aren't going to try and kill us, would you mind calling for some earth moving equipment? Your VIP and another are trapped behind this rubble."

Not satisfied, but not so jumpy anymore, the squad lowered their weapons and relaxed their postures slightly. "Stay here, we'll be back." And with that the four soldiers turned on their heels and paced back the way they came from.

Artemis relaxed slightly, a bit irritated at the Colonel not mentioning what the agent would be doing. "Well, this truly has to be the most frustrating mission I've had as of yet."

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

"Are we out of the loop or something?"

"No, and we don't get paid enough to think we are, drink deep from that cup of expendability and cluelessness, trooper."

Sergeant Tangelo was tired of constantly babysitting the newbies who had yet to fully accept what soldiering entailed. And fifty feet below ground in a tunnel full of nightmares was one of the last places in the world she should be playing school teacher.

But the lights of their vehicle in the dark held hope that she could call someone else to take care of her latest headache.

"Something wrong?" Her machine gunner called from the back of the six wheeled open bed truck the troopers had driven down from the first breach site.

"Trapped hunters, don't you worry, just keep counting your bullets, Rusty."

Two of the soldiers that had followed her down to the collapse slowly walked over to the drivers side of the vehicle and her corporal followed in her foot steps.

Tangelo opened the forward passenger compartment, looking for her scroll in the glove box.. As she grabbed it, she heard two rapid fire burst of gunshots. The sounds soon halted, but were close enough to conclude that their owners were not that far off.

Suddenly, Rusty fell from his perch behind the car's heavy machine gun and landed dead next to her feet. Blood flowing down the front of his chest piece.

Jerking as fast as she could, Tangelo witnessed the new addition to her squad drop his silenced rifle which had just ended the life of the unfortunate trooper, and rushed to the man in front of him. The traitor pinning his hostage's arms with his side with longer limbs, and burying his pistol into the man's throat.

She heard the hideous sound of metal scraping against metal behind her as a blade erupted through the last man standing's chest. The doomed soldier's hands feebly clutched the sword that had killed him as the Faunus behind him lowered his victim to the ground and let Tangelo get a good look at her attacker

His black trench coat merged well with the shadows in the tunnel, but his red undershirt and decals on his jacket stood out and let her take in his tall stature and red streaked brown hair. Along with the bone white mask across his face identifying him as part of one of the most dangerous groups of people on the planet.

The White Fang.

She was slowed by surprise, the veteran sergeant's mind trying to process what had just happened as fast as she could.

"Sorry, Sarge," sneered the traitorous soldier. "But I believe this is where you meet your end."

Thoroughly enraged Tangelo snapped into action, both hands flying down to her rifle. All of the adrenaline flowing through her veins, boosted her reaction time, but made her feel like she was moving painfully slow.

Her gun was leveled at the hostage's armored chest when a claw and grappling hook fell from the ceiling and spun around the weapon. She lost control and peppered the roof of the tunnel with bullets as the gun was brutally ripped upwards away from her target. "You know," came a soft female voice, almost purring. "I didn't expect so much to have happened already. I'm almost out of things to do and I just arrived."

A lithe form dropped from the ceiling, standing to reveal a woman wild white hair and a large fox-like tail swishing behind her. The extremities of her hair and tail were tinged with a pale yellow and her skin was only a few shades darker than the bright fur of her tail. She wore a simple yellow tee, covered by a worn leather jacket, which obviously had seen some action. Her grey boots stretched up to mid thigh, fitting snugly over a pair of black tights, a grey miniskirt protecting her modesty. Her bright gold eyes reflected a cunning mirth as she stared intently at Tangelo.

Tangelo moved again, right hand moving down to the pistol on her hip and her left snapping to the hilt of the short sword behind her back.

"What do you want?" Demanded Tangelo, trying to remain stalwart in face of this new threat. "Who are you?"

"The usual questions?" The woman pouted. "You could've made it a bit more interesting for me, you know?" She huffed slightly. "Fine. Be that way. My name is Sitruuna Yellow and what I want?" She smirked, a fox-like grin stretching her lips. "It's not just what I want? It's not personal, girly. I just have a job to do." She saw Tangelo move and brought her weapon to bare, grappling hook launching forward and ripping the sword from the soldier's hands as she drew it. "Now, now, girly. Can't we just be friendly for a bit? I don't want to hurt you."

A gleaming red blade brought itself to rest on Tangelo's neck, its edge cutting through the bulletproof fabric and into the soldier's neck lightly. And she felt a strong hand grasp her right arm in a vice grip

"Raise the gun and you will not live to see another second of your life."

"Oh, Adam," started Sitruuna. "I wanted to give her a sporting chance, you know? It would've been more fun that way."

Said faunus ignored her, turning to look at the traitorous soldier. "Finish him off."

"Actually, Adam," cut in the fox faunus. "Why not something more sporting?"

The masked swordsman frowned. "Like what?"

The pale teen grinned as she pulled out a coin. "Let's let one of them live, heads for the guy and tails for girly." She tossed it up and caught it, smirking as she looked at it. "Well, the only change is that she lives, Adam." She motioned to the soldier behind her. "Kill him, but make it quick. I'd rather not think about him suffering."

The traitor nodded and dug his pistol into the neck of his captive where the ballistic protection wasn't as stellar at close range. "Nighty night, Cafè." He pulled the trigger, a loud thunder of sound echoing around them. He smiled savagely. "Oops, forgot my silencer."

Adam ripped Tangelo's weapon from her and shoved her aside, firing into the neck of the traitor. "And I've forgotten your worth."

"Adam," called Sitruuna, slightly worried. "He might have just given away our position."

"I know," he grunted. "We need to go. Leave her here." He sheathed his blade and ran into the shadows.

Sitruuna frowned, walking over and kneeling beside Tangelo, helping her up. "Sorry, girly. I could only save one of you. I'll see you around." Standing and jumping away faster then the sergeant could react, she fled into the dark as well.

Tangelo stood, groaning slightly. "Damn it." She needed some form of backup or she would die down here. Swallowing her pride, she retrieved her weapons and made her way back to where the three girls and their protector were.

**End…**

Founder of Story- PeopleXLikeXGrapes

This chapter was worked on by, I think, every single one of us. So, yeah.

Editing and formatting- GateMasterGreen

Thanks for reading this. We're soon approaching the chapter when I can get you an accurate timeline for the first few chapters, if any of you are confused. I hope to see you peeps around next time. Adieu!


	6. Chapter 6

Yo Peeps and welcome back to chapter 6 of Converging Paths, we're continuing this shortened release date for one last time, so the next chapter is probably two weeks in coming. Sorry. We worked hard on this chapter, as well as the others, so I hope you enjoy.

_**Disclaimer: We Do Not Own RWBY!**_

A few moments later, he heard the slight patter of footsteps, signalling the return of the troops. Just in case it turned sour, Artemis made sure his magnetic glove was still adjusted right. The shots he heard rang out weren't exactly reassuring. Perhaps a Grimm attacked the squad? As the sound drew closer, he frowned. Only one set of footsteps could be heard.

Tangelo stepped into the light, looking a bit worse for wear as she looked at them. "I sincerely hope you were telling the truth," came her crackling voice.

Ruby seemed concerned, looking over the newly acquired dents and kinks in the Sergeant's armor. "Are you okay?"

The soldier managed to nod. " We were just attacked by two White Fang. I'm the only survivor..."

Artemis' expression hardened as he took the new information in. "We need to get to Bistre. We won't be doing anyone any good, if we all die in here."

Yang cracked her knuckles, grinning at the Hunter**(1)**. "What'd you have in mind?"

In a quick motion, Artemis brought his hand behind him, a metallic click ringing out as his weapon stuck. Bringing it around, he brought the scarab-like vambrace across his chest and slid it onto his right arm, the two blades on either side sweeping forward and clicking together, forming a bow-like structure. "Stay behind me and the sergeant." He turned his gaze to Tangelo. "I need you to lead us back to the Colonel."

The woman nodded. "Alright." She shouldered her weapon. "Let's get moving."

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

The group of five made their way through the tunnels, commandeering the vehicle that belonged to Tangelo's squad to shorten the trip. The sergeant smiled as the ground began rumbling under the truck's tires. They were getting close. "The Colonel's forces should be just ahead." She waved her hand at Artemis. "Get the radio."

"What?" Artemis asked.

The truck bounced over the tracks when the sergeant was distracted behind the wheel, talking to the huntsman. "Glove box, there should be another radio. And we're close enough to try and call."

Artemis opened the box and began sifting through its contents.

The three girls behind them swayed as the truck righted it's course and they were no longer smashed against each other thanks to good old gravity and physics, and all the little things that made Ruby's head hurt in class. Weiss was riding in the middle with Yang to her right, both situated behind Artemis, and Ruby to her left behind Sergeant Tangelo.

"Were there only two of them?" Weiss asked Tangelo.

"Yeah, after they shot the mother fucker who was working with them."

Artemis froze. "Come again?"

"I don't know…" The sergeant began. "I never met the guy before this run and he shot my gunner and another trooper before the faunus with the sword wasted him for making a racket."

"Must've been the shot we heard." He mused aloud. "What else?"

The girls in the back looked at each other silently, hoping one of their teammates would have a comment.

Tangelo continued "Nothing else, I grabbed my gear and hiked back to you. Is something going on, and if you say no, I think I have the proverbial need to damn know since four of my friends are lying back there waiting for the Grimm to tear into them."

Artemis sighed, pushing his shades up. "The issue doesn't lie in whether you need to know or not. I can't tell you, because I it's a part of the contract I've taken up. The Colonel might be of more use in sharing info. I know Topaz wouldn't spill, so Bistre might be the only one who can tell you." He frowned slightly. "I apologize for the loss of your squad, though. It is partially my fault, I suppose. Not having the means to verify myself on the spot."

With no further words, he held out the radio he had located while apologizing, Tangelo flipped off her helmet with her free hand with the other still holding onto the steering wheel. Her braided black hair was plastered to her neck and head by sweat and her pale orange eyes were red rimmed with pent up emotions.

She nearly slapped the radio out of Artemis's hand when she took the offered device and brought it up to her ear to contact her troops.

Artemis turned around in his seat to outline a few things for the huntresses about their new predicament. "Word of advice, girls. Be respectful to the Colonel. I don't know a lot about him, but he seems to be more strict in some regards than others. Let me do the talking and we'll go find Blake and Topaz in no time."

As they pulled to a stop in front of the defensive encampment beneath the hole to the surface, the present members of team RWBY and Artemis reflexively brought hands up to protect their sense of smell from the overwhelming stench of burnt gunpowder and welding fumes.

The Vale army left behind had piled left over rubble into circles and set up machine guns with overlapping fields of fire. Rifle men stood still, bored with nothing to do next to the more heavily armored close quarter pikemen who were leaning on the seven foot shafts of their spears, topped with another foot of razor sharp leaf pointed steel. The shafts of which could be expanded and doubled in length if the situation called for it. All of the soldiers also had either a short sword or hatchet looped on their waists next to the other odds and ends that were in the many pouches of their thick leather belts.

All of this was protecting the temporary elevator ferrying construction workers and more troops down into the tunnel.

Workers were busy cutting away ruined beams and concrete polishing up the frame for the new roof.

On the other side of the encampment, two armored personnel carriers idled on their eight wheeled chassis, next to a hulking battle tank that, unknown to the new arrivals, were the remains of the strike force that had already plowed through the Grimm in the tunnels to the second breach sight.

Only Sergeant Tangelo seemed comfortable in front of the withering array of firepower currently pointed in their direction.

Weiss and Yang clustered together on the right side of the truck, clearly cautious of the heat these guys were packing. Ruby? She was fidgeting where she stood, silver eyes wide with awe and wonderment as she looked the large weapons over with a scrutinizing eye. Right as she was about to fly off the handle, Yang spoke. "I don't think we have time for your hobby sis,"

"But Yang!" Ruby waved her arms in front of her pointing to all of the hardware, as Artemis was escorted by Tangelo up to the firing line to make introductions. "It's just so cool." The caped leader pouted.

"You're peculiar," Weiss told the younger girl. "Have I mentioned that?"

**XXXCONVERGEXXX**

The sergeant pulled Artemis around the sandbags and rubble firing pits, her right hand clamped firmly on his left arm, an action which the agent felt was entirely unnecessary. Tangelo held her helmet firmly to her side with her other hand. The remnants of team RWBY followed close behind them, the three girls staring right back at the faceless helmets of the armed soldiers.

The T-slitted visors only tracked them while they were still on the peripheral border of the fields of fire before dutifully returning their attention to where it belonged.

Since it was too much trouble to constantly climb ropes up and down from the surface, engineers had set up a small elevator, a black wire box that made all their lives much easier.

Sounds of screeching metal tore through the air when this cage began to descend. The small group stopped in the middle of the tracks and squinted against the flood lights blasting away the shadows.

The elevator door was unlatched and three more soldiers stepped forth, two wearing helmets and the unmarked rank and file full body armor. Colonel Bistre had on a thicker suit of pike bearer armor detailed with the crossed axes and laurel circle of the Vale coat of arms displayed across his armored chest.

He held his own helmet down on his right next to the cross guard on his longsword

The three girls could see these were not the only weapons on his person, the twisted four foot pike on his back lay next to the stock and grip of the Vale army auto rifle. And the arsenal was completed by the massive pistol holster to his left leg

Sergeant Tangelo let go of Artemis, stomped her feet together straightened her posture and swung her right hand up to her bare forehead to salute her superior.

A slight nod from him was the only thing necessary to tell the woman to stand down, and the armored officer stood what could have been interpreted as menacingly in front of the shorter huntsman.

Not intimidated Artemis quickly pushed his sunglasses up on his head, his emerald eyes settling on the Colonel. "I'm afraid we have a slight bit of an issue. I went on ahead of Topaz and ran into one of Ozpin's teams. The detective showed up after the fact, but some activity further along the tunnels is causing a bit of strife. There's a lot of seismic activity in the area and we had a roof collapse above us, separating Topaz and one of the students, Blake Belladonna, from the rest of us."

Bistre scowled even further, "What made you think going through beneath the city was a good idea?"

"I wanted to see what the state of the tunnels were." Artemis replied.

"The state is now there is more we have to go and seal up, thank you very much."

"That's the least of your problems," the huntsmen paused for a second before quietly leaning closer and adding, "Colonel, your soldiers were ambushed and betrayed by one of their own, there might be more hostiles down here and..."

As the officers beside him shifted and looked at each other at this stunning revelation Bistre held up his hand and silenced Artemis, then spoke to Sergeant Tangelo

"Is this true?"

"Yes sir Colonel."

"I told you," Artemis spoke again. "I need a bulldozer or something so I can go back there and…"

Bistre stopped him "What you need, boy, is to stay here out of the way. You four go up to the surface and I'll have a pilot fly you back to Beacon. You've done enough."

Artemis wasn't about to let this command fly. "I believe this is where I proceed with my counter, no?" He asked rhetorically. "First, let's handle the complaint you had about my involvement in the tunnels. I had told you before we even arrived that I'd be searching for other entrances, so that is in no way a fault of mine as you were trying to insinuate."

The Colonel glared sternly at the agent. "As if such a small issue would sway me in my decision making, boy."

"Which is why I said 'first', Colonel!" The agent countered. "You and I know who asked us to help and he has enlisted the help of these girls as well. Remember how I said there were those you wouldn't want to underestimate?" He gained a grudging nod from the military man. "These were the ones I had in mind. I have fought but one of them, but they all show the potential to become greater than you and I." Readjusting his shades atop his head, his piercing eyes locked onto those of the colonel.

"I know you might be a man of the military, but these girls will one day serve the people as well and they have lost a friend, with us missing the detective as well. Should something be wrong, the girls know their teammate better than we do," he pointed out. "It is both logical and ethically right to bring them along. They might help us find Blake, and Topaz, sooner than if you searched without them."

Colonel Bistre eyed the agent, mulling over his words before speaking.

**End…**

This whole chapter- De4thstopper, Darkerpaths, GateMasterGreen

Artemis, Ruby, Sitruuna Yellow**(2)**, Edits and Formats- GateMasterGreen

Colonel Bistre, Weiss Schnee- Darkerpaths

1) A pun that was a bit unintentional. While he is a hunter, his last name is Hunter as well, so… yeah.

2) An OC donated by Achaye22 (I think that's how you spell it), due to her being the first reviewer, though hers was submitted by PM.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and we'll be jumping right to work with the next one. As always, check out our crew's pages and their fics. They're all awesome. For my readers, be sure to vote on the poll for Ship Shape, as I have a three way tie for second place and might need a tiebreaker to set it things straight. That's all for now. See you in the next installment. Adieu!


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